


Black Moon Lilith

by SpiceHoney



Category: True Blood (TV)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Consensual Sex, Eventual Smut, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Fictional Religion & Theology, Magic, Rewrite, Romance, Supernatural Elements, Vampires, Witches
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-27
Updated: 2020-08-14
Packaged: 2021-01-04 14:07:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 28
Words: 124,657
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21198896
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpiceHoney/pseuds/SpiceHoney
Summary: SEQUEL to Blood Moon.Raven Blackwood was given the most important - and perhaps the most dangerous - task a witch can be asked of: to hunt an ancient vampire. Having to trust Eric Northman isn't making her mission any easier, especially with dark forces lurking in the shadows. Rewrite of season 5-7 up to a certain point





	1. The Ashes

**Author's Note:**

> A.N: And we're back!
> 
> Book 2 has proved to be MUCH harder to write than Blood Moon haha season 5's original story is a fucking mess, it's no wonder most fanfics in this fandom skip it (at least the one's I've read). But I'm enjoying the challenge, I really like where Book 2 is going. It's going to be longer than Book 1, probably closer to 20 Chapters. I'll TRY to keep my weekly posting schedule but there may be weeks I won't be ready to post. If you have any feedback, questions or suggestions PLEASE PM me.
> 
> Also SHOUTOUT to my super start Lokidokie9 at FFnet for editing Black Moon Lilith, you are an ANGEL!
> 
> Please kudo/comment below if you liked the story! The more praise, the more readers .
> 
> Much love

Raven ran through the dark, foggy woods. The ancient oak, maple, and pine trees were never-ending around her. She lost count of the amount of times she'd tripped over upturned roots and uneven earth. The humidity made her skin clammy and cold. Her ribs hurt from her quick, uneven breathing, and she could hear her heartbeat drumming in her ears. She thought she heard hounds following her, but she was too scared to look back. Her house was far away now, and she was certain that she was never going to see it again - but it didn't matter. She had to find Agatha and the others. She just had to, there was no trying, and there was certainly no failing. Raven had to get them out and then Agatha would know what to do. They would move, change their names, just like they'd done countless times before. No big deal. Everything would be fine.

Raven kept running but her body was quickly going limp. She could feel herself slowing down, her legs were not obeying like she wanted them to. She hid behind a tree, leaning against the knotty, wet bark. She looked in all directions as she tried to catch her breath, her ears still ringing. Woods, endless woods, trees in every direction. The leaves covered the sky, and fog muted the horizon. She had no idea where she was, in which direction she was going or where her family was. If only she knew tracking spells. Or even a place to hide and astral project. She looked up, and saw a pair of yellow eyes looking back at her. An owl.

"Tell Elijah Blackwood we were discovered. Tell him to get here now." The yellow eyes blinked, and then she could hear wings flapping through the air.

She could hear them now, getting closer. Hounds barking, men running and yelling. Panic started to settle in her bones. The Selectmen had taken her family and now they were coming for her. She knew this the second she arrived home that night, after her debutante ball. Hours ago she was performing her dark baptism ritual, drinking the blood of demons, pledging her loyalty to the Dark Lord, receiving his blessed mark on her torso, and now it all seemed so far away. Like it was a dream or happened in another life. She got home and the inside was completely ransacked - her house, the safest place on earth, had been intruded upon and violated. Her family was ripped from it. She could hear men in the house tearing through the study and kitchen. Glass shattering, metal crashing on the floor. A man stepped out of the tea room holding a bag filled with silver plates and yelled for her. She didn't know him by name, but she recognized him as one of the Selectmen - a council of rich men who governed the town. She immediately turned around and ran for the woods.

Raven's body was now slow and uncoordinated. Her knees, shins and palms were covered in scratches, and her throat and chest burned from breathing so hard. The hounds were close now, barking and snarling after her scent. But Raven knew she had to keep going. Teeth bit and tore at her dress, a hound jumped on her back. Her body slammed into the dirt and she screamed in protest, tears falling. She could tell the dog to stop, and she knew the dog would obey her, but there would be dire consequences if she did so. Revealing magic was a sin. She could see men approaching with ropes.

Raven Blackwood had failed.

* * *

The sound of hard the steel gate crashing shut echoed in the dark. Raven's body landed on the wet, dirty floor of her cell. The whole room smelled of feces, urine and mould. She couldn't make out much of her surroundings, but she could hear voices and cries coming from somewhere. She got up, holding onto the thick iron bars. Her eyes were adjusting to the darkness that dominated the room. It was a basement with large cells, and stone floors and walls. There was one small window that she could see allowing some night light in. There were two men lying on the floor of the cell beside her, sleeping. Or dead, maybe. She turned to the cell on the other side.

"Agatha!?" Raven cried into the darkness.

"Raven!" A group of voices came from down the hallway. She could see all of them in a cell across the basement, maybe 20 feet from hers. She could only see the very corner of their cell, Harriet's face tucked between the bars was crying. A wave of relief hit her.

"What the hell happened!?" Raven asked. "Why did they take us? Do they know we are-"

"Shhh," she heard Agatha. "The guards could hear you."

Raven bit her tongue. She had so many questions. She pushed her whole body against the corner of her cell, she could feel the wet rust that covered the prison bars smear across her hands and cheeks. From the edge of the cell, she was trying to see more of theirs, but she could only see half of Agatha's face now. She had been crying, and her sleeping gown was filthy and wet.

"Have you called my father? Maybe he -"

"Elijah's already been here Raven," Agatha told her.

Raven's brows furrowed. What did she mean Elijah was already there? Why were they still in a cell?

"What's his plan then? Has he gone to talk to the Selectmen?"

The basement fell silent. Agatha looked away.

"He does have a plan to get us out of here, right?" No answer. "Agatha? He's getting us out, right?"

"There's nothing he can do," Agatha muttered. Raven's eyes flooded with tears.

"No, yes there is!" she cried. "He's Elijah Blackwood! He has a duty to protect us!"

"No Raven, I had a duty to protect us."

Raven dropped to her knees. The Bishop, her own father wrote the rule: once caught, a witch must perish alone. This was to reinforce the importance of keeping their powers hidden from mortals. It was a rule meant to protect the many, by only sacrificing a "deserving" few. Elijah had sacrificed his home and life in war- and disease-riddled England to bring his daughter to a safe new world. He campaigned at many covens for witches to come to the colonies - and it didn't take much convincing. Witchcraft was punishable by death all over Europe, and it was as easy as floating in water to be convicted. His movement took off, and the man was quickly awarded the title of 'Bishop of New England'. He left Raven, a small child at the time, with Agatha in order to govern as Bishop. All in the name of keeping her safe. She grew up without a father, in order to be safe. He made Agatha and her coven relocate every 7 years, in order to keep Raven safe. She couldn't go to mortal schools or have mortal friends, or date mortal boys. All his exhausting rules, and now he'd decided he wasn't going to keep them safe anymore? Was Raven to believe there was nothing he could do? No. That couldn't be real. They did everything Elijah asked, not once had Raven disobeyed. They were so careful, so precise in how they assimilated each time they moved. They had such believable and well-rehearsed backstories. They didn't deserve to perish alone. They didn't do anything wrong.

"Then what are we going to do?" Raven asked, cleaning the tears off her face with her dress sleeve.

"There will be a trial," Agatha said after a moment.

"And then they will release us, right? We didn't do anything wrong!"

Agatha turned around and sat down on the floor. She could see Catherine and Mabel sitting in the cell as well, blank expressions on their faces. Their eyes were red, faces puffy. Mabel's head rested on Catherine's shoulder, where she gently sobbed. They all looked broken and defeated. Raven felt angry. Those were not the incredibly stubborn, intelligent, powerful witches she grew up with. These were just men. And mortal men at that. They could set this entire city on fire and dance on its ashes by morning if they wanted to. Why weren't they doing anything?

"Okay, so how about this," Raven got up, ready to formulate a new plan. "We summon,"

"Raven shut your mouth," blurted Catherine, resentment strong in her voice.

"No listen, we can try-" she insisted.

"There's no we Raven, it's over."

"Catherine," warned Agatha.

"It's not over! We can get out of this!" cried Raven.

Catherine pursed her lips and looked up at the ceiling. She looked furious.

"It's not her fault Catherine," Agatha whispered. "She didn't choose this."

"I didn't choose this either, Agatha," she spat through her teeth.

Raven was confused. She was trying to save them all, why was Catherine fighting her on this? Why did none of the others speak up?

"So that's it then?" Raven asked, but no one said a word. "We are just going to lie in this filthy prison and do nothing, just wait for our deaths?"

None of them answered. Mabel was gently rocking back and forth, face still buried in Catherine's shoulder. The stench was starting to turn Raven's stomach. The more her eyes adjusted to the dark, the more she could see how absolutely filthy this place was.

"Don't you get it, you foolish child?" Catherine said, looking at Raven for the first time, eyes wide in anger. "We are already dead."

* * *

It was a cloudy afternoon when the Warden came to collect them. Raven and the others were shackled with irons and taken across the Boston Gaol courtyard where a huge crowd of the town's people was already waiting for them. They passed right by a dozen men building a very large wooden pyre on a platform. Catherine's words echoed in Raven's mind. We're dead already. The tall wooden pole stood tall among the buildings. Raven's stomach sunk even further. They were pushed into the crowded courthouse, where the people yelled in rage, called them the most horrible names and accused them of things Raven hadn't even heard of. The Warden kept pushing Raven forward, into Violet's back, yelling for people to make space for the accused. They were all wearing dirty nightgowns, and Raven was still wearing her black and red ball gown, now limp, dirty, and torn. She looked like she didn't belong with them. They were pushed into a gated section, in front of rows and rows of pews. She looked up, and three judges sat above in the mezzanine, looking down on them. Everyone was still yelling, when the Warden's voice roared and echoed louder than the rest.

"Stating in evidence that the accused, one Agatha Beekman, Catherine Shaw, Harriet White, Mabel Reid, Violet Davis and one Raven Blackwood, all standing before Church's court for the crimes of witchcraft, thievery, arson, and the death of citizens of Boston by their practice of unholy arts."

Her eyes met Damien Williams. He wore a fine wool jacket and sat front row and center, next to the court officials that scribbled down every word the Warden yelled. He sat there with a small grin on his face, motionless in front of the chaotic crowd. He looked deeply into her eyes as if he were happy to see her. The Warden then sat down beside him. The crowd hushed and took their seats. Raven recognized no one. No one that worked with Catherine and Mabel at the hospital, not Ms. Duncan who was teaching Raven to become a seamstress or Mr. and Ms. Garrison whom Agatha worked for. Or anyone who regularly bought their goat's milk at the market. It was a room of strangers, who sat eagerly watching them. They watched them with bright eyes as if they were exotic inhuman creatures.

"Where are your husbands?" yelled an old man sitting above in the mezzanine. "It's my understanding that you lot live in a house by yourselves?"

"Arthur Beekman, John Reid and Matthew Shaw died fighting the Indians, your honour," lied Agatha. This was a lie that they told often. "David White died of smallpox seven years ago, and Ian Davis's fishing boat sunk five years ago."

"How very unfortunate," the judge said, displeased. "And how do you all come to live together?"

"Catherine Shaw is my cousin from my father's side, Violet is my cousin from my mother's side, Mabel, Harriet and Raven are my nieces," she continued. Another well-rehearsed lie.

"And none of you remarried?" he asked suspiciously.

"A couple of times, but the Lord tests through loss, your Honors. Raven was just sent upstate to meet a prospective husband, a very nice boy who just turned of age, from a very nice family." That was, of course, another lie. Raven saw Damien William's shift uncomfortably in the pews.

The judges frowned, examining the women standing in the middle of the court.

"How do you plead?"

"Your Honors, as we are all aware," started Agatha "the Witchcraft Act of 1563 was repealed by the House of Lords in 1735. I, therefore, state that this entire trial is illegal."

The crowd burst into protest. They wanted blood. The judge hit the gavel on his table, demanding silence.

"This is an ad hoc proceeding, under the administration of the Church, Ms. Beekman."

"I see we have gone away with British Law, which pleases us greatly. But your Honor, we are innocent of all charges and would now request a lawyer to help us proceed with such a trial."

"If you are innocent as you claim, you won't need a lawyer, Ms. Beekman," another judge said. "Now let's proceed with our first witness."

Citizens came forward, one by one. A man saw them gathering herbs in the fields - foraging for food and spices was not a crime, Raven was aware. Women and men, counting their tales of witnessing one of the witches selling talismans, potions and hexes - absurd, they would never be so careless… Witnesses swore street dogs and cats would run away from them on the streets - as they sensed the evil within the women. A young woman told a tale of six women dancing in the Salem woods around a fire, singing in tongues - another lie. A man saw Mabel and Harriet fornicating by the river - although that could be true, she was shocked they would be so careless. Another saw Agatha in Mr, Garrison's wheat crops, where she drew a large circle of symbols, chanted and then set the whole field on fire in the middle of the night. For hours, strangers built what sounded to be convincing cases against them. They were all rigorous and detailed in their accusations. And every witness that stood in front of the court, the stories grew larger and larger, as if they were competing with the previous one.

They blamed ships coming with smallpox on them. Drought, bad harvests, terrible storms, tales of pregnant women who went to see Mabel the healer, and walked out with dead babies. A man told swore he saw Raven in the woods growing wings and flying off into the sky. The longer Raven stood there, the more she wanted to scream. They didn't deserve to be the scapegoats for every little shitty thing that had ever happened in this town. These stories were absurd. If only they knew how magic worked if only she could tell them. They would then know that half of what they were being accused of wasn't even possible. But it didn't matter. They needed relief from their miserable lives, and sentencing them to death was the best way to get it.

A man entered the court - the same man she saw in her house, and he dragged a sack over his shoulders. The judge asked what evidence he brought with him.

"The house was filled with China and silver, your Honours," the man spoke.

"They were heirlooms of my late mother," Agatha responded, but it's like she didn't say anything at all, the court ignored her.

"And I also found these."

He turned the sack upside down, and a series of small bodies hit the floor. Two dead cats, a dead ferret, a dead toad and two dead hares, with their throats cut. She heard her sisters gasp behind her. The man had found their familiars and murdered them. The crowd burst in rage once again. Damien Williams stood. Prosecutors were allowed to be last witnesses if they had something to say to the court. Damien told the judges of a poisoned loaf Raven had gifted him. She felt her face burn. The ugly loaf. Damien told in great detail how he saw the devil after he ate it. She felt her face get hot, and panic was taking over her body. Raven must have made a mistake in the potion. Hallucinations were not a side effect of the anti-love potion. Damien then proposed the punishment to the judges. Five of the women were to be burnt at the stake, and the youngest was to be flogged 12 times and made to watch the burning of her fellow witches. She was then to be given to the Church to be reformed.

"Do the accuse accept God's judgment?"

"We accept," Agatha said quickly.

Before Raven could protest it, the Warden opened the gate and pulled her forward to the middle of the courthouse. The crowd stood up in anticipation, yelling. The people called them awful names, some cursed them.

Raven was wide-eyed, terrified of the crowd. She had seen men get flogged before, and she thought all public punishment was vile and humiliating. Damien approached her and held her arms. She looked straight at him and remembered all the evenings he stopped by the tailor shop to watch her sew dresses. His piercing blue eyes and bright red hair were never so close than they were right now. She was shaking from head to toe. She had known Damien for two years now. He was always gentle, and kind. Even now, he held her gracefully. But the way he looked at her, calm and serene in amidst of absolute chaos chilled Raven down to her very soul. Damien Williams was enjoying all of this. His face was the face of true evil all along, and she didn't even know it. She never hated anyone until this very moment. She hated him. Her skin crawled when his fingers touched her arms and back. He turned her around, away from the crowd. The Warden and another guard held her wrists. She looked up, facing her family - they looked back in horror. She felt Damien's fingers tugged at her corset, loosening it. How did she get here? The crowd roared in anticipation, she felt the room vibrating under her feet. She heard a knife cut the back of her dress, and felt her skin being exposed. Her heartbeat ringing in her ear drowned all the sounds out. Everything started to move in slow motion. The place was alive with the excited crowd, cheering for the spectacle that was about to start.

The first hit of the whip on her bareback shocked her entire body in pain. It felt as if her left shoulder blade was cut wide open and burnt all at once. She let out a loud scream. Her sisters all cried out in vain for Damien to stop.

"She's just a child! She's barely 15!" cried Catherine, reaching forward, trying to grab Raven, but she was just out of reach. "You know her Damien! How can you do this?! Have mercy!"

"This is mercy," said Damien firmly. The crowd begged for the next whip.

They kept coming. Raven fell to her knees, in a failed attempt to stand further away from Damien. She could hear the leather cut the air a half-second before she felt it lick at her skin, the excruciating pain made her see stars. The crowd cheered with each one. Raven cried for Agatha. She cried for Damien to stop, she begged him. Raven cried for her dad. She cried for the (dark) Lord, to curse everyone in this court. The room was starting to fade into black when Damien stopped. Sounds were distant, her body was limp and numb, with the exception of her back which was on fire. She felt the guards dragging her body outside, past the crowd, several of them, who spat on her. An older man kicked her in the ribs.

They dragged her out of the courtyard and up to the platform. A guard handcuffed her wrists to the pillory post. Her knees gave out and she sat on the wooden base, she watched her sisters being tied together on a pyre, extra wood and branches being put against their legs. The crowd surrounded them, cheering on. Unceremoniously, the Warden brought over a fiery torch and lit the pyre. Her sisters stood side by side, eyes closed, holding hands. Raven cried and sobbed, but she had no voice left to scream anymore. Her back was still exposed blistering from the whip. Raven still believed Elijah would show up, kill them all with a single curse and save them. He had to. A father is supposed to protect his family.

The villagers grew angry with the lack of the screams from the witches. They threw things at the stand, old shoes, rotten food, stones. She just sat there watching her family die. First, their gowns caught fire, and their thighs blistered. They stood still, eyes closed. As the fire slithered upwards, it swallowed them whole. Their flesh and skin started to melt, and turn black. The smell made Raven vomit. The fire burned bright and tall, for hours. The night fell quickly and the people left the town center slowly - mostly disappointed at not seeing the suffering they so eagerly wanted. As the fire started to die, the guards left too. She was left alone with the burning remains of her sisters. They didn't even look like human bodies anymore.

The night proceeded to fall, as the moon got higher and higher. The courtyard and empty and silent. She had never been so exhausted. She had nothing to drink or eat all day. The dying fire was no longer keeping her warm. She just shivered there, telling herself that none of this was real. This was just a terrible nightmare. She laid down, her body giving up. Maybe if she prayed hard enough, the Dark Lord would take her too. The cold breeze blew ashes on her face. She could taste it. Raven had no more tears to shed. She just wanted to lie there and die before morning arrived.

She heard someone approach but had nothing left in her to react. The figure stood by what was left of the pyre. He cursed in a foreign language. She looked up and saw a young man in white. She recognized him and was relieved that it wasn't the Warden. He then spun around and approached her, his familiar eyes looked at her. They were dark and pierced her very soul.

"Will you avenge them, Raven?" Godric asked her calmly.

A sudden fire lit within her. She nodded.

"Will these men suffer?"

She nodded again. Tears of anger rolling down her cheeks.

"Good." He said as he broke iron shackles off like they were made of brittle glass. "I will take you home."


	2. The Contract

“Impossible.” Eric Northman’s voice thundered through the room as he stood up quickly and angrily. His fangs were out.  
Elijah and Raven both stood as well, reacting to the vampire’s impulse. But without another word, Eric simply rushed outside of the house using his vampire speed. Raven caught a glimpse of him flying straight up into the black sky through the window. He’d run away. Elijah had just dropped a bomb. He had said something so awful, even a thousand-year-old vampire fled in fear. Raven was voluntold by the Southwestern District of the Church of Night Bishop to aid the Authority in finding the 3 thousand-year-old vampire terrorist Russell Edgington.  
“Isn’t Russell Edgington dead?” asked Raven, out of confusion. “I saw that blonde vampire woman, Nancy something, tell everyone the Authority had killed him over a year ago. It was all over TV for months.”  
“And you believed a vampire on TV? You can’t be so naive, Raven. But then again,”  
He nodded at the open front door, where Eric had left just a moment ago. She felt it again. The rage bubbling just underneath her skin. She had yelled at her father just minutes ago - something she had never had the courage to do - and she was just about to do it again. She took a deep breath through her nose and tightened her jaw.  
“Anyway, where is this coven of yours?” he asked sitting back down and reaching for his tea.  
“In their houses,” Raven answered still standing. “Modern covens don’t live together.”  
“Ah.” He nodded, quietly sipping his tea. She could tell by the tone of his voice that he was prodding, and not asking out of politeness. “How are they?”  
“They are pretty green for the most part. Lafayette is a natural born medium. Jesus comes from an old Olmec line of brujos, he grew up with magic so he knows a lot. Holly has a natural talent for spells, but the Satanic part scares her. She’ll come around though.”  
“I see. So they can’t come looking for Russell with you.”  
Raven realized that this wasn’t going to be just a point-on-the-map kind of job. Not for the price they were willing to pay anyway. This was going to be a locate-and-capture kind of trade. Raven wished she could say yes, but no, they could not. Elijah shook his head and put his teacup back on the coffee table.  
“No amount of tea is going to take the bitter taste of failure out of my mouth.”  
Raven scoffed. Now that was more like the Elijah Blackwood Raven remembered.  
“I know I didn’t turn out to be the witch you wanted me to be Elijah, but -”  
“Not your fault,” he interrupted. Raven raised her brows at this. “It’s Agatha Beekman’s, for not preparing you properly.”  
“Excuse me?” Raven asked angrily.  
“It’s Agatha Beekman’s fault that you ended up like this. You are Raven Isobel Blackwood, one of the last purebloods! I worked day and night for centuries to create a path of greatness for you! The first female Bishop! You were supposed to be the one leading the future generation of witches and warlocks! You were supposed to be Lilith’s light!”  
“No, that’s what you want! I’ve never asked for any of this!” she yelled. She could feel the anger burn in her heart and spread through her body.  
“Then what do you want Raven?” He stood up and walked towards her. “Huh? Enlighten me.” Raven didn’t speak. “You actually want to live like this?” He gestured at the house. “In this childhood nostalgia box you call home? Completely closed off from the world, sad and alone? Or is it living in Louisiana that you want? Your backyard is a swamp!” His angry words echoed throughout the house.  
“Stop it,” she warned, angry tears flooding her eyes. “Just because you don’t-”  
“Or maybe playing witch school teacher is what you want! Yes! Let’s pretend you are Agatha and have the knowledge of a fully formed witch and play coven with your new little human friends! Or pretend you are Mabel Reid, and become a vampire’s little bitch-”  
Raven quickly stepped towards him, swung her whole arm and slapped Elijah right on the mouth. She was no one’s little bitch. Whatever she had with Eric was…Not like that. The rage quickly consumed her, and she wanted to do much, much worse to him, but that’s all she allowed herself to do. He looked furiously back at her, silent. Striking a Bishop was a grave offence, but Raven didn’t care. She wasn’t going to take his bullshit anymore, she has had enough.  
“What I always wanted,” she spoke after a moment, looking deeply into his blue eyes. What she had to say had been waiting in the tip of her tongue since she was a teenager. “Was to have a dad. But it seems like neither of us got what we wanted, doesn’t it?”

* * *

It was like someone threw a bucket of cold water on her, yet she was dry. She felt her cold dead heart hurt. Pam dropped a bottle of triple sec, which shattered on the floor Ginger had just mopped. Booze splashed on her thigh-high boots and glass shards scattered everywhere. Ginger let out a startled shriek from across the club.  
“You alright?” She yelled out.  
Pam’s hands were still shaking. She never felt anything like this. It was a cold emptiness, like free-falling. She felt bloody tears fill her eyes. She looked around, panicked. There was something deeply wrong.  
“Eric?” Pam called out, echoing in the big room.  
Pam ran to the office, but it was empty. It was Eric. Or rather, the lack of Eric. She ran down to the basement, also empty. Pamela could no longer feel her maker. Her thoughts raced a thousand miles an hour, but she tried to think logically amid the fear that echoed in the emptiness.  
The last time she saw him was in front of the Moon Goddess Empire. She was mid-glamouring a human to forget the witch business when she heard gunshots from outside. By the time she got there, Eric was a smudge in the sky, flying away. Sookie was having another one of her Sookie meltdowns, yelling her head off at Bill Compton. Apparently Eric and Bill had an argument and Bill tried to shoot the witch dead and Eric got in front. This made Pamela furious on so many levels she could barely think straight. She was mad a Bill for having a stick up his ass and jerking Eric around for a whole fucking year. Testing her maker’s “loyalty” over and over and over again, waiting for him to slip up so he could end Eric. But it wasn’t his loyalty that was dubious. Bill Compton was just a mediocre man who let a gash in a sundress get away. And mediocre men need something to blame their failures on. Then she was mad at Eric for almost dying - twice - for fucking Raven Blackwood.  
Luckily, Bill had shitty aim, and didn’t do any fatal damage to Eric - hence the flying away. Pam just assumed he went after the goth chick. She’d even hoped they banged already. She knew he wanted her, but for whatever reason didn’t act on it. But Eric Northman was always a dog with a bone - when he wanted something or someone, he wouldn’t quit until he got it. And he always got it. Just when he was losing interest in Sookie Stackhouse, this witch shows up. Pam just didn’t know why all the wait.  
But now, she felt nothing. Just bottomless cold emptiness. No Eric. She yelled for Ginger to finish closing and ran out to the parking lot. She flew across the dark Shreveport sky, to his condo. It was an old textile factory, turned luxury loft condos - one of Eric many enterprises via shell companies. She opened the window, slipped in and called out for Eric one more time. Only her own voice echoed back. There were only two places left he could be: Raven Blackwood’s or Bill Compton’s house. At the first, he would be theoretically safe. At the latter, he would have certainly been imprisoned by the King and met the true death. Pam started to cry in fear. Eric could not have been dead. Not like this. Trying to get her thoughts back in order, she realized she didn’t actually know where Raven lived. She didn’t know where anyone of her coven lived either. All she knew was that maybe a certain blonde who happened to have her nose in absolutely everything would be her best bet at finding out.

* * *

Sookie’s house was dark. She busted through the front door, a pleasure she didn’t get very often, but Eric still owned this house.  
“Eric!” She called out from the dining room. “Eric we need to talk!”  
A strong scent of blood was coming from the kitchen, she rushed there only to find a headless dead body by the fridge, Sookie alone and crying, holding a lifeless Tara in their arms. There was blood everywhere - all over Sookie, the floor, sprayed on the walls and kitchen cabinets. Pam thought her life was a mess, but just look at these losers.  
“Colour me impressed, you know how to party.”  
“Eric is not here,” Sookie spat out in anger. “Get outta my house!”  
“You mean Eric’s house.” Pam corrected.  
“Pam! If you have any decency at all, please leave me alone!” Sookie held the woman’s body closer to her chest. It was only now that she noticed half her head was missing.  
“Tell me where Raven lives,” Pam demanded.  
“What? I don’t know where she fuckin’ lives! Get out!”  
Pam rolled her eyes. Sookie was absolutely useless.  
“Listen, just tell me where Lafayette lives then and I’ll let you… continue whatever it is that you’re doin’.”  
Sookie fell silent and shot Pam a funny look. How hard was it to think of a goddamn address?  
“Turn her for me.” Sookie nodded at Tara, tears running down her face.  
“Turn her? I don’t even like her.”  
“Pam, please!” Sookie begged.  
Pam froze for a minute. She was running out of options and she knew it. Finding out where Lafayette lived would probably take longer than the next sunset.  
“Have you noticed half her head is missing? Even if I tried, what’s to say she won’t rise out of the ground tomorrow night completely and utterly fuck-tarded?”  
“You have to try!” Sookie demanded.  
Pam shook her head and stepped away from the faerie and the corpse. She didn’t have to do anything. And certainly not for Sookie Stackhouse.  
“I’ll find out where Raven lives,” she said from the floor.  
Pam stopped mid-step. That empty feeling was still as strong as the second it shocked her. She had to find Eric. She looked at the poor woman laying on Sookie’s arms, a pool of blood staining the kitchen tiles all around them.  
“I will rise out of the ground tomorrow, and you either have Eric standing right next to you or you’ll tell me where exactly Raven lives?”  
“Fine, just do it!” Sookie yelled.  
“Swear on it?”  
“Yes! Pam, goddammit just do it!” She screamed in desperation.  
Pam bit her wrist, and let the blood fall into Tara’s open mouth.

* * *

Elijah had left without another word. She saw it though, the hurt in his eyes. It didn’t quite give her the satisfaction she craved, but it was the closest to relief she had ever gotten. Raven was still baffled that she said anything at all. Usually, when her father raised his voice, she backed right down. Elijah always told her how much he sacrificed for her future, and the great lengths he went to, to make sure she would be a successful and powerful witch. Raven was destined for greatness. But he never seemed to take into consideration that she had to make sacrifices too. She lived a life without a father or knowing anything about her own mother for a dream that wasn’t even hers. All Raven ever wanted was a family. She wondered what made her snap like that. Maybe it was Eric’s vampire blood running through her veins. She could still feel her power sparking at the tips of her fingers. Maybe she just had to deal with way too much bullshit since moving to Shreveport, and her tolerance had evaporated. Or maybe she grew the fuck up and it was about damn time she stood up to her father.  
She wiped tears off her face, as she sat with Lucifer on the bottom step of the staircase. She stared at the darkness outside through the front door. It was still wide open, left untouched since Eric left. Alexander Randall and the Vampire Authority were about to show up at any time to collect her for her tracking services in order to find Russell Edgington. How did I even get here? She wondered. She had to find a way out of this mess. It physically hurt her to admit this, but she knew her father was right about one thing - she couldn’t ask her coven to help. They couldn’t come to meet the Authority and Randall or go vampire hunting. They were too new and inexperienced. She looked around at her empty house, trying to figure out what to do next. There was no time to process the shit-storm of a night she had, she had to keep going. She could cry about killing a witch, almost dying, or her shitty father later. She had to prepare for the vampire hunt of all vampire hunts. She had to face King Compton again, the one who just put 12 bullets into her. She had to somehow get out of this bloody contract with him. She had to face Eric Northman again. Eric had offered Marnie his life to save hers. He had saved her by feeding her his blood. She had trusted him to enter her house. Trusted him with her body. When there was a knock at the door, his first instinct was to protect her. Again and again, Eric saved her. Plus, the sex was just… earth-shattering. She didn’t know what to do with all of…this.  
She got up, setting Lucifer off her lap when something fell from her pocket. The little amulet from Marnie’s hex. The stone was now shining green like an emerald. She picked it up, it felt much heavier than it was before. Guilt took over her stomach. She had lied to Eric. The souls of two necromancers were not in purgatory - a lot more magic and skill than she had was necessary to send a soul somewhere like that, let alone two and lock them in there. Raven didn’t even know if it was possible for her to do such a thing. So, instead, she bound their souls to the amulet. It was a spell easily undone, but she figured there would be no one looking for Marnie or Antonia, so her little white lie was for everyone’s benefit. Holding the stone in her hand she wondered if she could use necromancy spells by using their soul power. She read of healing amulets holding a phoenix’s soul, could the same concept apply? Truthfully, she didn’t know. All she was sure of, was that neither of them could possess anyone ever again as long as they were imprisoned in the amulet. Raven headed to the study where she placed the amulet on one of the shelves, along with the rest of her crystals. No one would even know what this amulet was just by looking at the shelf filled with her collection. It would be safe, she thought.  
“Alright. First things first, Bill Compton,” she told herself.  
Raven was not going to let that murder attempt to go unanswered. She was not the forgiving type. However, she had a contract to honour. Witches, like demons, honoured their contracts. Their contract with the world’s natural laws, with the Dark Lord, spell themselves were like contracts. She couldn’t simply kill Bill Compton in order to get out of it. Raven’s mind went to dark places. She considered putting a Lytta hex at his house, turn all of the people in it mad like rabid dogs. However, many humans also worked there - too much collateral damage. She considered killing Sookie Stackhouse. But the blonde was the only reason Bill stopped shooting. Plus she was a friend to her coven. Raven then thought of the perfect thing. What did a vampire fear the most?  
“Accio Orbis!” she demanded.  
Out of it’s little stand, Harriet’s crystal ball came out, flying from the top shelf. She dusted the ball with the bottom of her skirt and placed it back on the table, in the middle of the magic pentagram circle. She placed the tips of her fingers on each side of the heavy, clear sphere and concentrated on the fate of William Compton.  
“Crystallum orbis, vergo aevum, vergo comminus orbem, mors mihi.”  
She closed her eyes and focused all her energy on the tips of her fingers.  
“Crystallum orbis, vergo aevum, vergo comminus orbem, mors mihi.”  
She felt a cold breeze kiss her skin, Raven opened her eyes but she was elsewhere, in the dark. At first, she thought she was at the dark forest that haunted her dreams, but it was in fact, a cemetery. She saw Sookie Stackhouse dressed in a black lace dress inside a grave pit. Raven got closer, trying to see through the blackness. Underneath her was Bill Compton, laying inside an old wooden coffin, holding a small photograph. He looked grey and skinny as if he were terribly sick. They looked at each other in great pain.  
“You sure?”  
“I’m sure,” he whispered.  
Sookie was in tears as she leaned in and kissed Bill. Raven felt sad for her, being in so much pain from loving someone so much. Sookie then revealed a sharp wooden stake on Bill’s chest and pushed it down with force. The vampire quickly exploded like a balloon filled with blood and guts, covering the inside of the old coffin and all of Sookie Stackhouse.  
Raven was thrown backwards and fell to the floor, her back crashed against one of the bookshelves. Some old tomes fell open on the floor beside her making a loud racket. She looked down at her hands, her fingers were bluish and ice-cold - almost frozen, but they felt like they were on fire. She had looked into the future a tad too long, but she got what she came for. It was an old witch's curse, telling a man when he was going to die. Everyone knows they will die someday, but the second you tell someone their death date, you unmute the countdown clock. Even if they deny it, part of them will think about it all the time. The fear of the curse being right. The knowledge that time was slipping through their fingers at every second and there was nothing anyone could do to stop it. Their life was no longer about living, it was now about dying. Vampires were blessed with immortality, death didn’t plague them as it did to humans. Raven was going to break that. Bill was now going to worry about dying just like the rest of the common mortals. And not only was he going to worry, but he was going to be consumed by it. He was going to live the rest of his days knowing it was Sookie Stackhouse who was going to kill him. Every time he looked at her or even thought about her, it would be spoiled by the thought that she would one day drive a stake through his heart. It was just too good. It was downright perfect.  
Raven smiled. She was eager to tell him already.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!
> 
> It's a bit of an intense chapter, they next ones will be too. I'm not fucking around with this book haha
> 
> Don't forget to leave kudos and PLEASE COMMENT!
> 
> xoxo


	3. The Bishop

Raven arrived at Lafayette's small house in the woods. He lived on a dead-end dirt road just outside of Bon Temps. The night air was crisp when she got out of her little red car. Little Lucifer hopped out of the car and she grabbed the curious piglet before he could run straight to the bushes. She also grabbed her house - neatly packed back in her white vintage luggage - from the backseat of her car. Everything but her chicken coop made it - she forgot to lock her chickens away the night before and all she found tonight were feathers and blood scattered through the grass, along with some well-fed alligators spying on her from the shallow waters. It greatly annoyed her, but it was her fault for forgetting.

Her stomach was slightly upset from drinking half a jug of vampire repellent and a full pint of strength potion - it was literally her entire stock. The magic effects would only last for a few days so her vampire hunter stint would have to be a quick one. All she brought on her person were her wallet with her favourite fake ID, her phone, and five Punctum rings, one on each finger of her right hand. Only one Punctum ring was usually worn at a time, on an index finger and it was used for sacrificing small animals for spells or rites, but she borrowed some of her sisters' rings as well. The enchanted ring made the fingernail it adorned grow into a very sharp and incredibly strong point, about three inches long. Raven figured one hand armed with Punctum rings would allow her to pierce through a heart, maybe slice a throat, or at the very least gouge some eyes out. She didn't have much time or space to pack much, plus anything that she brought had to be inconspicuous. All that was left in the car were her tracking maps and crystals.

She knocked on the front door, pig under one arm, her house in the other hand. She saw lights being turned on inside, and a very sleepy Lafayette opened the door. He rubbed his eyes and looked her up and down. She saw Jesus enter the purple living room right behind him.

"Hoe, do you have any other outfits? Damn." Lafayette lazily motioned for her to enter.

Raven stepped into the little shack and put Lucifer down. The pig hopped on the couch and instantly made herself comfortable. She looked at both men and realized she wasn't going to have time to say goodbye to Holly.

"We got your text saying you were okay, but we were still worried about you. How the hell did you survive being shot at like that?" Jesus asked.

"You don't wanna know." Raven shook her head and sighed.

"You moving in?" Lafayette asked with a look at the luggage.

"No, but I do have a huge favour to ask you. You'll want to sit for this."

She sat on the cheetah-print armchair and the couple took the loveseat, along with Lucifer. The house smelled strongly like candles and weed, but she paid no mind.

"I'm going to go away for a little while."

"Why? What's wrong?" asked Jesus.

Raven started from the beginning. She explained how witches and vampires had always fought over territory, over the treatment of humans, over magic, and it had been ten times worse since the Great Revelation. She told them Russell Edgington was very much alive, and that she had the chance to protect them against vampires once and for all if she caught him for the Authority.

"Yous going to catch Russell motherfucking Edgington all by yourself? Bitch are you fucking nuts?!"

"He's right, you can't do this by yourself. Isn't he like 3000 years old?!"

"Guys I'll be fine," Raven assured them, putting her best act on. "If I do this, vampires won't be allowed to touch you ever again! Do you know what an insane opportunity this is?"

A silence fell into the room. Neither of the men wanted Raven to do this, but she knew how much they had suffered at the hands of vampires - Eric included.

"But I will need you to hide my house somewhere safe," she eyed her luggage. "And you have to keep Lucifer," she added.

Lafayette looked at the pig confused, then back at Raven.

"The pig?" He cocked a brow.

"Yes."

"Hooker, do you know how much bacon I eat?" He shook his head.

Raven knew what he meant. She wasn't able to eat pork ever since Elijah gifted her the familiar. But she couldn't leave the poor piglet inside her luggage forever, it would be incredibly cruel. Jesus elbowed him lightly in the ribs.

"Fine." Lafayette sighed and threw his hands up.

"Oh and I have parting gifts!" Raven reached for her luggage and opened it, and summoned some books.

"While I'm gone, I'll give you some things to practice. Potions for beginners, this one has the hangover cure you keep asking me for," she started pulling out items and putting them on the coffee table. "I already taught you abjuration, so I'll give you a higher level book on that." Raven pulled out a big leather bound book. "A seance guide, books on divination, astrology, demonology, my tarot deck, a couple of spell books, this rare botany book is really interesting,"

Although Jesus looked excited at first, they now both looked overwhelmed with the growing pile of books on their small table.

"Raven," Lafayette interrupted, eyes still on the ever-growing pile on the coffee table. "I think I'm gon' hit pause on this witch stuff for a while."

"What?" asked Jesus, surprised. "You didn't tell me this."

"I know, it's just," he looked at Jesus and Raven without knowing where to start. "We were taken hostage by Marnie, Raven was almost cut up like roast. All because of magic, I don't wanna get into it if that's where it leads."

Raven's heart sank. She was so excited to share magic with her new coven that she forgot real magic can be scary for someone who grew up thinking it was just a fairytale.

"Magic didn't lead Marnie to do what she did," Raven explained. "She was marginalized her whole life for being different, and she always used Wicca or magic or spiritual power for taking back control of her own life. Greed corrupted Marnie, not magic. But I understand if you want to take it easy. There's a lot I haven't had the time to explain yet."

Lafayette nodded.

"Ah, and before I go, you both need demon sigils." Raven delicately pulled out a small wooden box before sealing her luggage shut.

"What's that?" Jesus asked.

"It's a symbol that prevents possession against demons or ghosts." She opened the small box and revealed the brass hand poke tattoo needle. Lafayette and Jesus stood still like deer caught in headlights. Raven guessed that they had no idea what she was talking about, so she stood up and pulled her dress straps down her arms and dropped the top of her dress to the belly button, to show them her own tattoo on her upper stomach.

"Aaaand you're naked!" yelled Jesus.

"Woah!" Lafayette cried.

Both of them leaned back further into the couch and looked away embarrassed. Raven figured since they were gay and joined her in a blood pact, that they would be okay seeing her breasts, but she supposed they were still regular humans at the end of the day. She never understood their gripe with nudity.

"Also, hell fucking no! Bitch yous outta your goddamn mind if yous think I'm gettin' that on my body!"

"Why not?" Raven pulled her dress back up.

"Cause I'm already black and gay and I live in the south! Now yous want me to get a Satanic tattoo?!"

"I'm a nurse I can't get that on my body!"

"The pentagram has nothing to do with the Dark Lord."

"Dark Lord? Raven yous fuckin' crazy if yous think I'm gettin' that."

"Do you want to get possessed again or not?" She yelled.

"Nuh-uh. No way." He shook his head.

"Yeah, sorry no." Jesus agreed.

Raven rolled her eyes and exhaled frustrated. It took a lot of convincing before they compromised on wearing necklaces with a demon sigil pendant that Raven had to make. Jesus brought over three old necklaces from Lafayette's jewelry box (it was more of a large chest), and she magically marked them with the symbols. It wasn't ideal, but she made them both swear up and down that they would never take it off. Especially Lafayette. Mediums were like lighthouses to lost or troubled souls, and there were plenty of those around here. This way, Lafayette would hear the whispers of spirits, but not be possessed by them. She explained that while she was off looking for Russell Edgington that she couldn't be worrying about them. She asked them to give the third necklace to Holly before hugging her friends goodbye. She said goodbye to Jesus first, who hugged her extra tight. He then disappeared to the kitchen where the landline was ringing. Raven kissed the top of Lucifer's head before stepping out on the porch with Lafayette.

"Bitch if yous don't come back, I'm eatin' Lucifer." Lafayette joked. "Das right, he's goin' to turn into a BL freakin' T."

"I'll come back." Raven smiled and started to walk back to her car. She took another look at Lafayette standing by the door. He had the kindest eyes. It was for them she was going after Russell. Not for fame, or power, or for political gain, but to keep this family safe. She didn't know them very well, but she knew they were worth it, she could just tell.

"Hey Lafayette," she called out before he closed the door. "Magic is not only about having power but being empowered too. I know it feels like a burden most of the time, and sometimes it's downright dangerous, but it can also make life a hell of a lot easier. I charged Eric Northman 50 thousand dollars to find Sookie Stackhouse, and I have a retainer with Bill Compton worth 400 thousand a year," Lafayette's eyes grew three times and his jaw slightly dropped. "You can also make the hassle worth it." She winked before getting into the car.

He was about to say something when Jesus tapped him on the shoulder.

"It's Sookie, sounds urgent." Jesus told him, handing him the phone, and both of them waved her goodbye.

* * *

Eric saw the hole in the parkade himself. It was deep, with silver chains tangled in cement. The wizard was not lying. How could he have possibly escaped? Without wasting a breath, he flew again across Shreveport and landed on Bill Compton's porch in Bon Temps minutes after. He pushed through the double doors faster than any of his security guards could react. The foyer was empty.

"Bill! We have a fucking problem!" He yelled through the empty house.

The King ran down the stairs with his vampire speed and stood in front of him, fangs out. Eric looked down at the man, the same one that tried to turn his torso into a colander. His anger was futile.

"Russell Edgington escaped," Bill raised his brows in shock and stared at Eric in deep concern. "And the Authority knows."

"Impossible."

"Apparently not. I went to the parkade myself and there's nothing but a hole in the concrete. Bill there were only four people who knew, who else did you tell? Did you tell Jessica?"

"Never! Do you think it was Pam?"

"No. How could he have escaped?"

"He couldn't have, not without help. Eric, we are in trouble. And how did you find this out?"

Eric paused for a second, considering whether or not to tell him that he met Raven's father right after they...

"It doesn't matter. The Authority and the Church of Night struck a deal-"

"The church of what?"

"The witches, Bill!" He explained, annoyed. Eric had no time to explain all of it. "That is why Nan Flannagan forbade you from killing them. She knew Russell had escaped, the Authority and the witches have an agreement to deal with Russell. Raven-"

"Is still alive I take it?" Bill scoffed, disappointed.

"Listen to me, dammit!" Eric yelled. "We don't have fucking time to be arguing about this! Raven is going to find Russell for us, you-"

Bill had a full-body chill. He blinked in pain for a second.

"What?" Eric asked.

"It's Sookie." He told him. "You don't feel it?"

"Feel what?"

"She's afraid."

Eric blinked. He felt nothing unusual, just the regular Holy Shit a Three Thousand Year Old Psychotic Vampire With a Very Personal Bone to Pick fear, but nothing from Sookie Stackhouse. That's strange, he thought. He was confused, but oddly delighted. Sookie got in trouble often, and for the first time in nearly three years he felt no obligation to go save the blonde. He remembered sitting on the black velvet couch with her yesterday. She renounced him, even after everything they'd been through together. He decided she was no longer his problem.

"Fuck Sookie." He told Bill.

"Fuck Sookie." Bill repeated. Eric cocked a brow at his reaction. "She broke up with me earlier this evening," he confessed, traces of pain and shame in his voice. "She deserves a normal life. And I have to let her have it."

"Good. Now we need to find out how Russell escaped being buried in cement and maybe escape ourselves before the Authority shows up. There's no way in hell they are going to let us live for lying to them about Russell. And if they don't kill us, Russell will."

Bill stood still for a moment, deep in thought. He was starting to understand the full urgency of this situation.

"Russell hasn't fed in over a year, he's weakened. Maybe we can take him down like we probably should have a year ago."

"Maybe, but we won't have much time until he feeds enough to shred us to pieces."

Bill paced around and went into his office. Eric followed the King.

"You said the witches and the Authority struck a deal? What kind of deal?"

"Russell for the protection of all witches. Raven is going to do it, she can track anyone, anywhere."

"You're goddamn right I can." A warm voice echoed behind him.

Both turned around and saw the witch walking into the house and heading straight into the office. Was there no security in this place? How did she just stroll in? She waved the doors shut like some sort of goth Jedi and continued walking towards Bill Compton. Eric saw the hair on the back of Bill's neck rise. She ignored Eric completely and stared right into Bill Compton's very soul. She walked up to the King, whose fangs came out in an angry hiss.

"You look pretty good for someone who almost just died," Bill scoffed.

"More powerful men than you have tried to kill me," she said angrily. "All failed, and none lived to regret it."

"So you're here to kill me?" Bill laughed. "Kill me, and neither of you walk out of this room alive."

"Oh, I won't kill you." Raven told him.

Eric had never seen Raven so spiteful before. He was a bit sad he wouldn't see Raven bathe in Bill Compton's blood, but at the moment he needed Bill alive to help to deal with Russell.

"How kind of you," Bill said sarcastically.

"I won't because it would be dishonourable to our contract." Bill glared at her. "But I will curse you." Raven was toeing a dangerous line here. Eric needed Bill Compton alive and functioning. "William Compton I curse you with the knowledge of your true death."

Bill chuckled in disbelief.

"You will die on August 24th, 2014, staked through the heart," she declared with a malicious smile. "By Sookie Stackhouse."

Those words wiped his smile right off his face. If Raven were somehow telling the truth, this would be in less than three years. And Sookie of all people would kill him?

"Bullshit," he said in a serious tone. "You can't possibly know that."

Could she? Raven reached for Bill and gently touched his forehead with her index finger. She only touched him for a second, and with his fangs back down he flinched, slapping her hand away. The back of his hand burnt as he touched her skin. She had showed him something that deeply hurt him.

"No!" He cried, leaning on his desk. He slouched, defeated. "That vision was fabricated!" He cried.

"I can only make you see what I saw."

If only Pam were here to say I told you so. She had warned Eric that Sookie was nothing but trouble so many times it was like his progeny was a broken record. If Raven was telling the truth, the King would be dead soon. He wondered if he would be made King next. He didn't want that one bit. His head was buzzing with questions. Raven could see the future this entire time? When would Eric die? Or Pam? How do they defeat Russell?

"You two deserve each other," Bill spat at Eric, furious.

"We are even now, Bill," Raven said, straightening her leather jacket.

Eric took a good look at the woman standing in front of him. Raven smiled, satisfied, and glanced at Eric, waiting for his reaction. He didn't know if he should fear Raven Blackwood, or rip her clothes off and fuck her right here and now.

* * *

Raven did not feel bad at all for what she did. Bill Compton still sulked while she explained how she was planning on finding Russell Edgington, and what to do when the Bishop of this district arrived.

"Wizards are easily offended. Remember to not turn your back on him, don't shake his hand, and whatever you do, don't hiss or bare your fangs at him. Even the threat of violence against a Bishop will get you killed faster than you can say Tru Blood."

She could tell neither Bill or Eric were taking her seriously whatsoever. She felt nervous, her palms were sweating cold. Raven wasn't even nervous about meeting the vampire authority at all, she just wanted everything to go well with Alexander Randall. She had never met the man, but she had heard plenty about him from her father. Not good things, of course. The dude sounded like a giant prick. Now put him in a room with Bill Compton and Eric Northman…Someone is gonna die tonight, she thought.

Raven tried to remember the most she could about Randall. He was from Wales, was an enchanter who learned from Morgan Le Fay herself. He had a taste for the eccentric and lived in the Wild West since it became the Wild West. Raven kept fidgeting with her rings, staring at the front door. Randall was going to arrive at any moment.

Eric lazily paced around Raven, looking down at the nervous witch.

"I should have killed him a year ago, you know," he vaguely stated.

"Yes, I know," Raven brushed him off. She was having a hard time looking at Eric and not remembering his touch on her skin. So she just didn't look at him. "You chose a bad time to become a loyalist."

"No, I meant-"

They heard steps outside. The cavalry had arrived. Bill Compton, straightening up his suit collar, approached the door and opened it. However, instead of the Bishop, a tall blonde woman stood outside, whom Raven immediately recognized as the AVL spokesperson Nan Flanagan. She had a strong power stance and was naturally intimidating with her piercing icy eyes. The look on her face was not the friendly one that she wore on TV. She was surrounded by a heavily gunned and armoured team of guards.

"Miss Flanagan, we've been expecting you," Bill said cordially.

Eric took a step forward and stood in front of Raven, she peeked at the vampire woman from around his shoulder.

"Hi Nan. And gay stormtroopers," Eric said less enthusiastically.

She glared at both of them, pursing her thin lips. Miss Flanagan was not a happy vampire.

"Perfect," she barked. "Two birds, one stone."

She walked right in, straight into the King's office with the guards close at her heel.

"The Marnie situation has been resolved if that makes any difference," Bill explained.

"Ding dong, the witch is dead. Yippee," she mocked.

And no thanks to any of them, Raven thought. She followed the vampires into quietly into the office.

"His Majesty showed great leadership in extremely perilous circumstances. You should be kissing his ring," Eric said in a serious tone.

Raven cocked an eyebrow. Is Eric Northman… for real right now? She had to hold her tongue to not scoff.

"Why bother when your tongue's already so far up his ass?" Nan asked.

Raven couldn't help but smile. She wished this was the Nan that appeared on TV. It made for much better entertainment. Eric didn't respond.

"I wish for one fucking night you could experience the litany of bullshit I've had to deal with. Then you'd have some idea of how little I give a fuck about your small town witch infestation-"  
"Ahem." Raven coughed out loud.

Nan turned around surprised. The woman hadn't taken notice that Raven was in the room at all until then. Her whole posture changed to a much friendlier one.

"Ah, yes. The famous Raven Blackwood. A pleasure to meet you. Nan Flanagan, American Vampire League president and Chancellor of the Vampire Authority," she said with a warm and although very convincing, fake smile.

"Raven Blackwood. Pleasure is mine," she said quietly.

"As someone who cares so little," Bill continued. "You seem awfully pissed off."

"Do I Bill?" Nan asked him, irritated. "Maybe it's because you so consistently meet my expectations, you mediocre fuck,"

Raven decided she liked Nan Flanagan.

"I told you to not hurt a single witch because Roman made a deal with the highest warlock of the country to help clean up a mess that you fucking made to begin with."

"My mess?" He scoffed.

"Yes, your mess. You told me a year ago you two numbnuts had killed Russell Edgington." She glared at Eric and Bill, who both said nothing.

I should have killed him a year ago, you know. Now Eric's words made sense. He wasn't referring to Compton, but to Edgington. Wait. The night after Russell killed that news anchor on TV, Nan herself told the entire world that he was dead. Why did they lie to her? It's pretty easy to know if a vampire is dead or not. Raven was way too confused to ask questions.

"And now that we found out that he is very much alive and on the loose, there isn't a fucking PR team in this world who can save this sinking ship. You two better hope to God this witch can find him before the humans do or else we are all very fucking fucked."

"I can find him," said Raven, in an attempt to diffuse Nan's anger. "All I need is a piece of him, and the rest I have in my car."

"Alexander Randall informed me. We have collected some hair from his old house in Mississippi."  
"Do you have it? I can do it right now, it will only take me five minutes."

Nan stepped closer, looking down at Raven. She had a malicious smile on her face.

"His hair is currently guarded at the Authority Headquarters in New Orleans. We're headed there next."

We? Raven's heart beat faster. If she thought going to a vampire bar on Halloween was going to be risky, this had nothing on it. This was straight-up walking to a hungry lion's den while covered in steak seasoning.

"You are bringing a witch into the Authority's headquarters?" asked Eric with raised brows.

"A sign of good faith," Nancy replied with a smirk.

"From whom? Me or you?" Raven asked defensively.

She looked at Raven again, from head to toe. Raven didn't like her glare one bit, especially the way she looked at her neck.

"May I remind you, Miss Blackwood, that you have no choice?" Nan asked the witch. "You have a contract with Bill Compton and if memory serves me correctly, witches do honour their contracts no matter what, no?"

Raven frowned. She could feel her blood starting to rise in anger once again. Having Eric's blood in her made her emotions burn like a fever. But Nan Flanagan was right. It was part of the Magic code to honour contracts. Raven regretted not writing the contract herself, she would have put in subtle loopholes that would get her out of situations like this. But she was careless when she agreed to sign it. She was so focused on getting out of the iron chains and getting her magic back that she signed on the dotted line the second she saw the damn document. A mistake she surely won't repeat. Until the contract expires one year after she signed it or she fulfilled it's worth, she was stuck with the vampire King.

"Yes they do," a deep voice spoke from the hallway.

All of them turned around to look at the new visitor in the hallway. Raven recognized him immediately. He was a tall man, as tall as Eric, but wider and much more robust. His beady blue eyes were hidden behind a pair of bushy brown eyebrows, and under his nose was a thick chevron moustache. He had salt and pepper hair, perfectly groomed and combed backwards. He was wearing a white, three-piece velvet suit and pointy burgundy dress shoes. But the pièce de résistance was the live yellow python curled around his shoulders as if it were a feather boa. Elijah was not joking when he said Alexander Randall was as tacky as they come.

Hesitantly, Raven took three steps forward and curtsied.

"Your Excellency," she said as her head bowed.

She was the only one to acknowledge the Bishop, no one else in the room moved and before an awkward silence settled she spoke again. She guessed they were shocked at the sight of the Bishop.

"This is William Compton, Vampire King of Louisiana. Along with Eric Northman, Sheriff of the area and,"

"Nan Flanagan," she interrupted warmly. "American Vampire League president and Chancellor of the Vampire Authority," she repeated in the exact same way as before.

"Ah yes, of course." He nodded, stroking his familiar's head. "The famous vampire who owns a witch," Bill Compton smiled awkwardly. "Along with the even more famous vampire who caught her, and how could I not know of the powerhouse that is Nan Flanagan." He approached Nan and took her hand and kissed it.

Raven glanced at Eric who looked pretty pleased with himself, but Randall's words were the furthest thing away from a compliment to her. He might as well have slapped her.

"It is my understanding that the Authority has a missing prisoner?"

"Most unfortunately," said Nan.

"And that if Miss Blackwood were to find him, the Authority and the American Vampire League are willing to grant protection to all wizards and witches across all thirteen districts?"

"Absolutely your…Excellency. The Authority's word is absolute law."

"And if a vampire were to break the law, what would happen then?" Alexander Randall asked excited as if this were some sort of game.

"They would be swiftly hunted down, brought to their King and punished by the true death, your Excellency. Sheriffs would also be of assistance in any witch-vampire conflicts." Answered Eric Northman, seemingly eager to please. For someone who kept himself out of politics, he was quite good at kissing ass.

Randall's eyes shifted between the two men and Raven.

"Miss Blackwood, by what means will you find the vampire in question?"

"Tracking spell, your Excellency. I will head to his location during the day, catch Russell Edgington at his weakest," Raven explained.

Randall's eyebrows shot up.

"Russell Edgington?" He asked eyeing her up and down. "The Authority is looking for Russell Edgington?" Raven swallowed dry. "Nobody had informed me of this. And I've appointed you to catch the terrorist?" Raven could tell this was not going well at all. "What is your specialty? Are you one of Elijah's students?"

Raven felt her face get hot. This was about to take a turn for the worse.

"No, your excellency, I'm self-taught."

He looked stunned and offended.

"Dear Satan," he muttered, frowning. "The safety of our kind rests in your hands?"  
Raven looked down, embarrassed. She knew her lack of education was frowned upon, no matter how much she ever studied.

"Well, do you want to do it then?" asked Eric.

The room fell silent. Oh no, Raven thought. Had she not told them wizards offend easily and this was one of the most powerful wizards alive? Did Eric Northman have a death wish? Rhetorical question.

"No," he answered quietly. "I suppose not. What kind of tracking spell? You need a blood bond with the subject for such a thing."

"I use a part of their mortal remains as a binder for soul tracing. I usually bind it to an ionized Apollo Crystal over a Key of Solomon to make a soul marker, skipping the need of a blood bond. Then I just use maps for the regular tracking spell."

Alexander blinked twice in confusion. No one in the room twitched a muscle.

"You use both conjuring and enchantment principles for the same spell?"

"Yeah," she answered with a small and proud smile.

"Very well then," stated Nan. "We best get going, or else we won't make it to New Orleans before sunrise."

"Of course," Randall nodded. "just one more thing, Raven is the daughter of a dear friend of mine, and I would hate if something happened to her-"

Raven's head filled with whispers that drove out any other sound in the room. She could see the Bishop and Nan talking, Eric and Bill paying close attention but all she could hear were a million whispers. She caught the Bishop's eye, and suddenly the voices synched into one. _I have a good source who tells me the Authority has something that belongs to us. Retrieve it_, said the loud voice. She looked at Eric who looked back at her, with his dreamy soft blue eyes. He didn't seem to hear it. How could he not hear it? Raven looked at Randall and the whispers spoke again in unison._ The Authority doesn't know its asshole from its head, there's no way they can realistically keep this bargain._ The pieces were adding up. Legilimency. Randall was inside her head._Find the weapon the Authority guards. It is our birthright to have it._ Randall said with urgency. _What is it?_ She asked in her mind. _ You will know it when you see it. Don't waste your time on Russell, just find the weapon and bring it to me. I'll be watching._ The whispers ceased.

"Sounds like the Authority is highly competent. I'm sure this will be the first step of many towards a strong alliance between vampires and wizards." Randall gently bowed to Bill and Nan. He moved towards Raven. "And to you, may Lilith's stars be your guiding light in the dark night."

He took her hand and shook it firmly with his enormous hand. Raven was still stuck in shock that Alexander Randall was inside her head and asking her to steal a major weapon from the Vampire Authority's headquarters, and not to bother with finding the world's biggest vampire terrorist in order to save all witches from vampire persecution, literally five seconds ago. What the fuck did I get myself into?

"And may She also guide you." Raven finally answered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello bonjour my dear readers! I hope you liked the chapter! I re-wrote it like 7 times because it just didn't flow right. So what did you think? Bill Compton has been cursed, and Raven's mission just got a whole lot trickier! What do you think the weapon is?
> 
> ALSO, where are the comments at? Do I need to hold Chapter 4 hostage? Give this lonely writer some love
> 
> xoxo


	4. The Sister

Soon after the Bishop left, Nan motioned for the three of them to get into the car. Raven's heart beat faster when the driver opened the trunk. Nan must have noticed Raven stopping right in the middle of the stairs because she spoke with a smile.

"The trunk is for Fuckup One and Fuckup Two, plus your tracking gear. You sit in the backseat, with me."

Raven wasn't sure if that was much relief either. She looked at Eric who stood beside her on the King's porch. She could hear Bill inside, making a phone call to Jessica, his progeny.

"You'll be fine." Eric said looking down on her.

He smiled at her, but she could see it was just a veil. He was as scared as she was, and he didn't even know all of it. She wanted him to embrace her and fly away from all of this. She looked at his blues and prayed that he could read her face and do it. She prayed on their blood bond, on something - anything - that would get them away from this madness.

"Let's go, gentlemen, we don't have all night." Nan barked from the car.

The guards grabbed Eric and hauled Bill out of the house. One man, twice her size, gently pushed the small of Raven's back towards the vehicle. She walked towards it while watching the guards toss Eric and Bill into the silver-lined trunk like a pair of heavy duffel bags; she got in the backseat behind the driver. Sitting in the front were a man in his 30s, and in the passenger seat sat a very pretty woman about her age - dark brown hair, blue eyes and perfect cat eyeliner. She introduced herself as one of the Chancellors of the Authority. The car drove away from the Compton Estate. Raven knew it would be at least a five-hour drive to New Orleans and she was in no way interested in small talk, so she just watched Bon Temps disappear out of the window. Nan seemed to be ok with it, as she didn't look up from her phone once.

Raven watched Louisiana as they drove through, city by city. The landscape was flat, with tall grass and old, forgotten trees. Houses were mostly decrepit and small. Rusty tin roofs, bad paint jobs, sagging sheds, extensions made of plywood. A number of old cars with mismatched doors and parts. Many strip malls filled with boarded-up businesses, signs that faded ages ago. She lost count of how many oil refining and industrial complexes she drove by. Louisiana was like being in someone's faded memory of a place - it made her miss her small Vermont town.

The soft vibrations of the car, the slow 80s ballads that played on the radio, the soft ticking of Nan's texting, and the boring landscape all made Raven fall asleep after an hour of driving. Soon she was dreaming again, surrounded by the ancient pine trees she knew so well. The fog brushed against her naked skin. She was thankful for a moment for being alone and away from the chaos of being awake. She noticed the path between the trees was there again. Centuries of having the exact same dream, and only recently had the path changed. She started to walk through it, wondering where it led. The forest was never-ending. She walked and walked, feeling the cold damp dirt beneath her bare feet.

She looked around, appreciating her lonely walk. She realized this would probably be her last dream alone. If Mabel wasn't kidding all those years ago, Eric would soon be in them as well. This was one of the effects of a blood bond between a vampire and a witch: they have the ability to communicate through each other's dreams. She wondered if she could dream walk in Eric's, and what he would dream about; something more interesting than hers, she hoped. Raven wondered if Eric would be mad that she lied about what would happen if he drank her blood. She barely knew the vampire then, how could she have known that their relationship would end up here?

A vampire's little bitch, her father's words echoed in her head. Elijah had an insidious power of planting seeds of doubt in Raven's head. She wondered if all parents did that, or if hers were just shitty. Raven thought about hunting Russell and stealing the Authority's weapon - whatever that was. There was a high chance that she would die trying to accomplish either of those, let alone both. What if that was the last time she ever got to see her father? The guilt settled like a pit in her throat; If she was going to die in the next few days, her last words to her father were absolutely awful. Even if that was the truth, she wondered if it crushed him. Probably not. Maybe. She didn't know.

She was pulled back into the world when she thought she smelled gasoline. The car was still driving, now between a number of warehouses. None of the vampires around her seemed to notice the smell. Nan was still looking down on her phone, typing lazily. She could feel something - someone - in the trunk shift behind her. She could hear a faint whisper, of either Bill or Eric saying the word fire. Raven was now fully awake. Bill and Eric were going to blow up the car. BILL AND ERIC WERE GOING TO BLOW UP THE CAR. She looked out the window and picked a spot on the curb.

"Nunc Adsum, Ego autem non sum!" she stated.

She could only see a flash of Nan Flanagan's confusion before Raven was standing on the curb, watching the black car drive away. Three seconds after, it had come to a screeching halt. The driver hit the brakes abruptly once they realized Raven had escaped; Nan's car door swung open. Before she had the time to step out, the whole car exploded, a fireball that lit up the entire street. Raven looked away and shielded her face from the flying debris, running towards the burning scattered pieces of the car.

"Eric!" She cried.

She saw Eric get up. He was thrown against a chain-link fence on the other side of the street, covered in soot, and had small cuts all over his face and hands.

"Eric, are you crazy?!" She yelled at him.

"Yes, next question." He half smirked.

"You could have gotten me killed you idiot!"

"You have so much of my blood in you right now that you could probably survive Hiroshima," he approached and knelt beside another man lying down in the middle of the road. "Bill, come on, we gotta go."

"What the fuck is going on?!" Raven asked.

"You two should run," Bill groaned.

"I am not leaving you here!" Eric told him, grabbing his hand. "Let's go."

The two of them stood up as a shadow walked through the fire.

"You motherfuckers," Nan Flanagan shrieked as she approached the trio, fangs out. "Who wants to die first?" She asked pointing a gun at the three of them.

No one had the time to move or react when Nan exploded into a pink mist before landing into a puddle on the ground. The pretty woman who sat on the front passenger seat had stabbed her heart with a broken umbrella.

"You Nan," she spoke in a soft British accent. "You die first."

"Nora." Eric called out.

He ran to her, passing Raven and Bill and they both collided into a deep kiss. Raven felt her stomach drop, quickly looking away. Raven wasn't naive, she knew not to expect much after a one nightstand but Raven had the best sex of her entire fucking life that same night, and now he was tongue deep into another woman right in front of her.

"Friend of yours?" Bill asked, pleased after watching Raven's face.

The couple gently pulled their kiss away. The woman, Nora, placed her head right on his shoulder.

"It's my sister, actually," he answered.

Raven felt sick. Ugh. She knew vampires weren't actually blood-related, so this wasn't technically incest, but gross. So gross. They decided to leave the scene before the cops showed up, as the car was still in flames ten feet high. Hayes, the driver, had died in the explosion, and Nan was no more; both were just goo. They walked three blocks before they hit a pier filled with large fishing boats. Raven hadn't realized until then that they were already by the ocean, which meant New Orleans must not be too far away. Raven could barely see the harbour because the fog was so thick. The gentle sound of buoy bells echoed on the docks.

"Can someone tell me what the fuck is going on?" Raven demanded annoyed.

"We were supposed to kill Russell Edgington, but we didn't. We buried him in concrete and left him to die slowly, but somehow he got out. There's no way the Authority will let us live," Eric explained.

"The Guardian wanted Nan followed to make sure she carried out his orders. I saw an opportunity to save Eric, so I took it," Nora continued.

"So nobody in the Authority knows about your relationship?" Asked Bill.

"And they never will." Answered Nora. "We were only connected through our maker, and Godric is gone," she said, sadly.

"As a chancellor of the Authority, you're taking a huge risk," Raven said.

"I'd do anything for Eric," she stated. Eric smiled at his sister. "And because Bill did what he had to do to protect us from the necromancers."

"Excuse me," Raven interrupted. "What I did. I saved all of our asses from the necromancers."

"Yeah but the Authority doesn't know that. And to reward Bill for it with the true death speaks volumes about how out of step the Authority's current agenda is. I'm not alone in this belief."

"There are factions within the Authority?" Bill asked.

Nora nodded,"I had arranged for our car to be conveniently ambushed when we hit I-310. Our attackers were going to take out my driver and Nan there. Unfortunately, the stunt you pulled in the trunk came 12 miles too soon."

"Sorry," said Bill.

"Don't be. It was badass. And your little Houdini trick was neat."

Did this bitch just call quantum magic a Houdini trick? Raven cocked a brow in disapproval. Not that she was bias or anything, but Raven disliked Nora already.

"So what do we do now?" Eric asked.

"I have made arrangements for the both of you to escape the country and disappear with new identities. Raven will go with me into the Authority to continue their deal. But for now, we go to ground for the day. Lilith willing, we'll be safe."

Raven stopped dead in her tracks. Did the vampire say Lilith willing? What the hell did she know of Lilith? She watched Bill open a creaky old shipping container at the edge of the dock.

"It's rusty, but should be light tight."

"Agreed. Wait for me inside, will you? I have to call New Orleans and lie my ass off." Nora focused on her phone and paced around the dock, talking to the Authority. Raven stood by the container, still feeling dizzy from the chaos that this night had been. Was this the kind of life Mabel had when she dated Godric? There was not a chance in hell she could have liked living like this. She felt Eric's gaze on her- The same eyes that, hours ago, looked at her with hunger from the inside of her house. She just glared back at him.

"So you're not going to say anything?" Eric asked.

"There is nothing to say," Raven barked back.

Raven looked at the small steel shipping container, steel is an iron alloy. Once inside she would have no powers. She wasn't even in it yet, but she felt suffocated already. She was going to spend the next 12 hours with no powers, stuck with three vampires, with no food or water. Nora was telling the Guardian how they were ambushed and everyone died but the witch; he was pleased that Raven was alive. Nora told him she was going to bring in the witch as soon as the night falls again but, for now, she had to go underground. Nora hung up the phone and approached them.

"I hope you both understand that tomorrow night you'll be saying goodbye to the life you've known forever. If you two come back, if you ever return, it will be the true death of me." Nora warned.

"I understand," said Eric.

"As do I," said Bill.

"I'm going for a walk," Raven said annoyed.

She spun on her heels and walked away, headed down the empty dock. Raven was going to hunt Russell alone, without Eric or Bill. She felt betrayed. She didn't want the true death for either of them (ok, maybe just Bill), but now she was going to face the Authority alone with this random woman she had just met. Alexander's orders echoed in her head. She honestly didn't know what was going to get her killed first, finding Russell Edgington or trying to steal a weapon for Randall. Tracking Russell would have to be done with a miracle because all her maps and crystals were destroyed in the explosion. Raven could hear Eric following her so she walked a bit faster, containers quickly passing by. Eric, being a million feet tall, caught up to her without even trying.

"Raven!" he called.

"I'm just stretching my legs, okay?" She said annoyed. "I just spent five hours in a car, and I'm about to spend another 12 in a metal box."

"Raven, the sun is about to come up."

She shook her head still avoiding his eyes and kept walking, ignoring the tall vampire walking beside her.

"Go on then, Northman!"

"Oh my God," he said in a mocking tone and the dirtiest smirk. "You're jealous of Nora."

"Fuck off." Suddenly, she felt his cold hands grab her wrist, and Eric pulled her back.

"I am not playing Raven," He whispered angrily, his fangs out. She looked deep into his angry blue eyes and stared at them without saying anything. "If you want to come out of this alive, you do what I tell you."

"And where have I heard this before?" She defied him.

"Get in the fucking container," he pulled her close to his body. His nose touched hers, and she felt his breath on her. Her lips longed for him. "Before I make you."

"Why are you being such a prick?"

"Why are you being such a child?" He tugged on her arm and started to walk back towards the container at the end of the dock, dragging Raven against her will.

She looked at his hand touching her skin, without burning. Raven had taken the vampire repellent potion yet it didn't harm him. This could either be a side effect of having his blood mixed in her system, or he didn't actually want to harm her. She stopped putting up a fight and just walked with him. Still, he squeezed hard, which almost hurt.

"So you're just going to leave me to deal with Russell Edgington alone then?" Raven said quietly.

"You'll be fine," he said, not making eye contact.

"Oh will I?" She scoffed. "What about Pam? You're just never going to see her again?"

"She'll also be fine," he barked, annoyed. Raven could see the container Bill broken into just fifty feet away.

"So this is it, huh?" She said angrily. "You'll just leave me here to clean up your damn mess again." He stopped walking, and she followed. They stood in the empty dock, bell buoys still ringing through the fog, Eric glaring at her angrily. "First your memories, then the necromancers, now Russell."

"I was following orders!" He yelled.

"Yeah? Were you following orders when you showed up to my house, fed me your blood and made love to me, too?"

Eric suddenly grabbed her body and shoved her against the wall of a blue shipping container. The noise of her body slamming against the metal echoed through the dark. His whole body pinned her against the cold metal, his left forearm pushed against her chest making it hard to breathe.

"Actually, yes, I was," He said so close to her that his lips almost brushed hers. "And for the record, I don't make love. With no one, ever. I fuck." Her lips wanted to kiss him. She saw his eyes wander across her body. Being so close to each other was intoxicating and she knew he wanted her, too.

"Not even with… Nora?" She teased. Eric moved away from her, letting her go completely.

"Being a bitch doesn't suit you. Don't be too long," Eric told her and walked away alone, hands in his pockets, towards the container. Raven stood by herself, catching her breath for a moment. She could see the first ray of orange along the horizon. She jogged to the container on the edge of the dock and looked at the slightly opened door, slipping into the darkness without letting too much light in. Inside were Bill Compton, Eric Northman and his sister/lover Nora, already dead asleep.

She picked a spot by the door and sat down, her back against the wall. No one inside the container moved. She looked at Eric, who was already peacefully asleep, lying next to his sister.

Were you following orders when you showed up to my house, fed me your blood and made love to me, too?

Actually, yes, I was.

Raven knew it was stupid, but it hurt her. Eric did tell her that Bill ordered him to follow her. Eric made it crystal clear on all the nights he visited her in Vermont that he wanted to fuck her. He had never lied to her. Raven didn't think she had any true expectations for the vampire, and yet, she was mad at Eric and didn't want to see him or talk to him in her dreams. Once this was all over- and if she was still alive- Raven was going to do a good body and soul cleanse, leave all of this and move as far as she could possibly go, just to never have to see him again. But, then again, maybe after tonight she wouldn't have to, anyway; Eric and Bill were going to disappear forever.

Raven lost track of time. She assumed it was midmorning since she could hear the occasional sound of steps outside on the docks. She was tired, really tired. She took a deep breath and forced her eyes open, staring into the darkness to resist falling asleep. The little rest she got last night, plus all the never-ending-vampire-fun she's been having, has taken a toll on her. Regardless, she succumbed.

* * *

Sookie and Lafayette sat in her backyard smoking a cigarillo. It was dark and cold; they both shivered while staring at the dirt pile. Lafayette felt like a shell of a person like he used to be somebody but he wasn't one anymore. Tara was dead, head blown up, brains scattered all over Miss Stackhouse's curio cabinet.

"When was the last time we ate something?" Sookie asked, breaking the silence.

"Eating? What is that?" They chuckled, waiting for Tara and Pam to rise from the ground anxiously. Lafayette was scared Tara was going to hate them forever, and he did mean forever. At least Sookie brought Tara some TruBlood; He hoped she liked it.

"I'll go dig through your kitchen and get us something," he said, getting up. Sookie nodded, not saying anything. He went inside the house and raided the fridge. The waiting was killing him. What if it didn't work? It was fifteen minutes past sundown already, why was it taking so long? And if it did work, he was going to tell Pam that Raven was gone. She was going to fucking murder them all. He put together two ham and cheese sandwiches, threw some biscuits on a plate along with a slice of pie and a tall glass of sweet tea. He stepped back out and headed to the moonlit backyard. He saw Pam standing there watching Sookie cry while digging through the dirt.

"Sook?" He asked, hopeful.

She shook her head, tears running down her face. It didn't work. Tara was gone forever, and he felt like someone had ripped his heart out. His knees almost gave out from underneath him.

"Tara!" Sookie cried, "Tara wake up!"

Pam opened a bottle of TruBlood and took a long sip, watching Sookie struggle in the dirt pit.

"No, this can't fucking be," He cried.

Suddenly, the ground moved and Tara was standing right in front of Sookie with fangs out and a dark look in her eyes. Sookie screamed as Tara lunged at her like a lion on a gazelle. Her teeth sunk into the blonde's neck and blood came gushing out.  
"Tara stop! Yous is killing her!" Lafayette yelled as he ran, dropping the food on the ground.

The second he touched Tara's shoulder she threw him 10 feet away in one swift motion. She continued chewing on Sookie's neck, red blood spilling everywhere. Lafayette landed hard on his back right next to Pam, who watched all of the chaos happen in deep amusement as she sipped on her synthetic blood drink.

"Pam do something!" Lafayette begged.

"I am doin' something; I'm laughing," She chuckled.

"Help Sookie, or I won't tell you shit!" He demanded. Pam scoffed and rolled her eyes. She pulled Tara off Sookie and held her in a headlock.

"As your maker," she started. "I command you to not attack these humans. Now go back into the house and stay there!" Tara ran towards the house the second Pam let her go, and within moments they heard the back door open and shut. "I think she got it. Now, where is Eric?" The vampire demanded. Sookie stood up slowly, dizzy with blood all over her hoodie.

"We don't know, we didn't find him anywhere," Sookie confessed.

"You fucking useless idiots!" Pam's whole body tensed up. "Where does the witch live?" She growled.

"She's gone," Lafayette confessed. "She's off hunting Russell Edgington."

"No!" Pam screamed, "Don't you lie to me! We buried that fucker in concrete."

"And apparently yous half-assed it, cause he gone!"

"Bullshit! You better tell me where she lives, and you better do it now!" She yelled.

"She lived on Old Guysborough road off route 17, but her house is gone and so is she. You won't find her." Pam's eyes flushed with blood tears.

"Bill is out of town, too. Jessica said he's gone on Authority business. They're probably all together." Sookie explained.

"Usually, when they're together, they're doing something stupid to save your fairy cunt!" She hissed, crying.

"Well it ain't me this time, Pam. I broke up with both of them." Pam glared at them, a single tear running down her cheek.

"Well fuck y'all. And you still fuckin' owe me," she spat out before disappearing into the woods.

* * *

Raven hadn't realized she had fallen asleep until she felt Bill Compton nudging her.

"It's time to go," he announced.

She had a dreamless sleep; no forest, no Eric. It must have been the steel container blocking her powers. Raven was relieved but the good feeling only lasted a moment. All of her body hurt from sleeping on the hard floor. She was starving and thirsty as she looked around at the empty container- Eric and Nora were already standing outside chatting and giggling like teenagers. She should probably tell him the consequences of witch blood before they parted ways, but she didn't really want to disclose that in front of anyone else. Holding this secret made her nervous; she knew he wouldn't like it, but guessed since he was leaving forever anyway…. It wouldn't matter. They walked across the dark shipping yard in silence towards dock 13. Raven could have sworn this place was abandoned judging by the rust alone. She heard the noise of a boat motor rumbling just around the corner. When they reached the end of the pier, a man stood waiting for them. Nora smiled, recognizing the man. He whistled and, suddenly, a dozen more people appeared on the dock- some from the boat, others from behind the surrounding containers.

"Cat!" Nora called out to one of the vampires. She embraced a woman who, in typical vampire fashion, wore all black with a leather jacket. She had beautiful brown skin, short black hair, and bright green eyes.

"This is Cat Ingerslev. She'll be heading up your extraction."

"Bill Compton."

"Eric Northman."

"Not anymore you're not. Your papers," the woman said, handing them passports.

"Marcellus Clarke," Bill read.

"Ike.. Applebaum?!" Eric said, grossed out. In all fairness, it was a ridiculous name.

"New papers are very hard to come by, Mr. Applebaum," she said in a deep, serious tone. "Time to say your goodbyes." The vampires started heading towards the boats. Eric kissed the top of Nora's head.

"Take care of yourself," she said, hugging him sadly. Eric turned around and looked at Raven as he let go of Nora. She felt a sudden very large pit on her throat the size of a baseball. He stepped towards her and stood about a foot away; It was now or never.

"Raven, I -"

"I need to tell you something," she interrupted. "I lied to you when I said nothing would happen if you had my blood. I know you only had a small amount, but its bond magic is different because I am not solely human," Eric didn't move a muscle, taking in her words. "Until the blood wears off or one of us drinks a more powerful blood, we will have the ability to communicate through each other's dreams," she said in a serious tone.

Eric chuckled, "That's it? That's not so bad."

"And the blood bond of a witch breaks all other blood bonds," a huge weight was lifted from her shoulders. She couldn't even believe she got all the words out.

Eric frowned, slightly confused. She knew he would probably be upset, his bond with Pam or with any other progenies and humans was now gone. It was a completely clean slate. When it came to blood magic, a witch's blood was so strong that it overpowered all other bonds. As of now, Eric had one bond and one bond only: Raven.

As soon as Eric had a second to process what Raven had just implied, his hand lunged for her neck. His large, cold hand wrapped around her trachea and squeezed. Raven could feel his skin sizzle and burn and yet, somehow, he did not let go. His eyes were filled with fury, his face got closer, fangs were down. For the first time, she was scared of him. Raven could barely breathe as his fingers squeezed harder. Before she could react, bullets started to rain on the dock. Raven felt Eric's body embrace her, shielding her from the attack. His hand still held her neck but at least she could breathe now. She could hear the cries and watched as vampire bodies turned into liquid all around the pier. As quickly as it had started, the gunfire ended. They were surrounded by guards wearing all-black tactical gear; a uniform Raven could now recognize as the Authority. Eric pulled her up, his hand left her neck but his arms were still around her. A floodlight shone brightly on them from a tall boat beside them.

"In the name of the one true Vampire Authority," said a deep voice through a loudspeaker "In whose wisdom and justice all is made manifest by God, do not fucking move!"

Bill, Eric, Nora and Raven were pushed close together by the barrels of the many assault rifles that surrounded them; the Authority had found them. Oh, we are fucked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, I have not died!  
November was incredibly busy, I had to take care of some lame adult things. But I'm back! And I'll try to get back into my weekly posting schedule. But the TRUE MVP here is CommanderHeartthrob! Thank you so so much for editing this!
> 
> Now go love me on the comment section because I've missed you all!


	5. The Guardian

There was a black hood on Raven's head. She sat in the back of a vehicle surrounded by a whole lot of vampires. She was handcuffed with silver and judging by the smell of burnt skin, so were Bill, Eric and Nora. She lost track of how long they were in the van. No one said a word. Raven considered using the teleportation spell again but, without aiming where to go, it would be a sure plan of landing through something and dying a painful and slow death. She was going to take her chances with the Authority since they seemed highly invested in her. The van stopped, the doors opened, the hoods came off. The guards took them to the inside of an empty warehouse before closing the large doors behind them with a loud echoey thump. The clicking of high heels approached. A woman walked towards them from the shadows. She had beautiful soft brown hair and eyes that reminded her of Violet. She wore a form-fitting purple silk dress.

"Salome, I can explain." Nora cried almost immediately. "They are more valuable to us alive! I never had any intention of betraying-"

"Fairytales are for children." Salome interrupted, looking deeply into Nora's eyes. Salome had a soft accent that Raven couldn't quite place. She moved past Nora, giving her the cold shoulder. "Miss Blackwood, welcome," the woman looked at Raven from head to toe. "You are a lot younger than I expected."

"I get that a lot," Raven told her.

"Well, life is full of surprises, isn't it?" she asked, glaring back at Nora, who looked like she was about to cry.

"Do you honestly think I'd jeopardize my entire career to harbour two fugitives?"

Nora had barely finished talking when Salome put her palm through her face, slapping the shit out of her. She could feel Eric shift beside her, wanting to do something about it but she knew he couldn't.

"We'll talk later," Salome said, motioning them to follow her.

The four of them followed the vampire down a set of stairs, into a dark and damp basement level. Salome opened a fuze box and pulled out a small tray, pressing her finger into it and leaving a small bloodstain. The tray lit up and retracted itself back into the wall. As Salome gently closed the rusty fuze box, a set of elevator doors opened. She walked in and guards pushed the group into it behind her.

Raven felt the metal box move it descended for a concerning amount of time. She didn't dare move - not even to meet Eric's eyes. She knew she would see nothing but his death glare. She could still feel the ghost of his hands around her throat. When the elevator finally landed and its doors opened, they revealed a grand lobby. The walls were sculpted stone adorned with old Hebrew carvings. The reception had modern furnishings and bright gold chandelier. A polite voice called Ambassador Cole to exsanguination chamber 6 over the PA system. Raven didn't even want to think what that meant exactly. A smiley receptionist peeked at the prisoners with curious eyes. People zoomed by reception like it was a busy office. The guards took them down through a heavy set of doors. The inside was a skinny hallway that lined a set of cells. It reminded her of Bill Compton's basement, with the blank walls, the silver bars and the sterile feeling. The guards put Raven, Nora, Bill and Eric in separate cells before leaving them alone for the first time.

"This is getting hella old you guys." Raven complained.

"Any ideas Houdini?" Eric mocked her.

" Mr. Compton, Mr. Northman, Miss Blackwood," said a male voice over the PA. "Welcome to New Orleans. Of course, we all wish it were under better circumstances. Tell me, Mr. Compton, why did you and Mr. Northman make contact with chancellor Gainesborough?"

"She was my prisoner," Bill lied looking at the camera in the top corner of the room. "She's done absolutely nothing that would compromise her position or her loyalty."

"There were others aligned with you waiting to aid and abet, we killed nine of them. Where were they taking you?"

"No idea." answered Eric.

"What were they planning to do with Raven Blackwood?"

"Sir, we don't know," pleaded Bill. "I urge you to release Nora and Sheriff Northman. They were following my orders, and Raven was nothing but a prisoner. They deserve mercy."

It was odd hearing Bill speak with such kindness towards Raven. And with such honour, exchanging his life for Eric and Nora.

"A noble gesture, Mr. Compton. But both a lie, we both know."

There was a loud click in the room, the lights shut off, and a humming noise started.

"What's happening?" Raven asked nervously.

"The UVs!" Nora cried, falling onto her knees, protecting her head with her arms.

The whole room was engulfed in a bright purple light from the ceiling. Eric, Bill and Nora screamed in agony as their skin burned. Nothing happened to Raven, but her stomach dropped at the sight of seeing the vampires being tortured. The room smelled of burning flesh and it was enough to bring Raven back to a dark memory. She looked at Eric, feeling angry, her skin prickling with static at the sight of his blistering skin.

"Lux mea est," Raven soared, raising her hands to the ceiling. "Lucere auferetur," the lights flickered and the cell bars started to shake. "Lux mea est, tenebrae rursus adducere!"

The lights all popped and cracked with a bang, burning out at one at a time down the cell room. The room went dark and silent. The cries from Eric, Nora and Bill ceased, but only Eric dared to move. She could feel Eric's glaring eyes on her, but he said nothing. Suddenly a door opened, shining light back into the room from the hallway. Guards with flashlights and guns entered the room. Raven was the last one to be released, and the last one to follow the rest of the took the prisoners back through the maze of the Authority's bunker. Suddenly the guards took a left, leading Eric, Bill and Nora down a different path. Raven was taken to a grand room; it must be the heart of the vampire Authority. Raven felt a cold shiver run down her spine. The room had tall ceilings, an expensive lounge area, and a long conference table. Near the table was a large black mirror - a television, Raven guessed- and near the lounge was a set of wooden carved doors. On each door, runes she knew very well were carved: the Lilith and Lucifer runes. The shiver grew, making the hair on her neck stand up. She could hear a slight faint ringing noise coming from behind the doors. The weapon. That had to be where they kept whatever it was that Randall wanted. She had a bad feeling about what was behind that door.

"Miss Raven Blackwood, the woman of the hour." A deep voice spoke from the corner of the room, causing her to spin on her heels.

An exceedingly tall man wearing a navy suit and red tie entered the room, adjusting his wrist cuffs. He had short buzzed brown hair and a large forehead. His shoulders were so broad he would probably not make it through some of the doors in her house. "Roman Zimojic, the vampire Authority Guardian."

Raven didn't quite know what to say, so she did a small curtsy as she would with a Bishop. She could feel his eyes wander from head to toe which made her extremely uneasy.

"I just got off the phone with Alexander Randall, he could not say enough good things about you."

She didn't know who it was, but either Roman or Randall was full of shit. "Where are the others?"

"Debriefing." He answered shortly, slightly frowning. More torture got it. She thought, feeling her stomach drop. "They will join us shortly. Now, Randall tells me you can find Russell Edgington with this?" Roman reached into his pocket and pulled out a small glass vial with three thin short brown hairs.

"If that is his, yes." The vampire smiled at her answer. "But my tracking gear got, uhm, blown up."

"Can't you just hold the hairs and tell me where he is?"

"Guardian," she chuckled annoyed. "Over many decades I have developed a very specific method of tracking that needs to be done in a very specific way. No, I can't just hold it. I'm not an antenna."

He stared at her for a moment before speaking again, annoyed. "I will get you whatever you need. Are you hungry, Miss Blackwood?"

"Yes," she confessed.

He pointed at the lounge area, where she slowly sat down at the edge of the leather couch. The ringing noise grew louder as she sat closer to the door. She tried to not look at it, despite her curiosity. What could possibly be behind those doors? She didn't want to give away her interest in front of Roman. If whatever lay behind those doors once belonged to witches, her being here would be an immediate threat to the Guardian. The ringing quickly faded away at the sight of food. A server came in with laid a tray of the most luxurious food she had ever witnessed on the center table, and another man behind him brought over wine and water. She looked at the colourful banquet: grapes, dates, figs, all kinds of cheeses, pieces of bread, olives, cured meats, pâtés, conserves and chutneys. Her stomach hurt from hunger. As soon as the servers left, she inhaled about half the platter. Roman sat across from her, sprawled on the couch, drinking blood from a crystal glass. He watched her eat with great satisfaction. Raven was too occupied to care about the vampire.

"I smell Eric on you." Raven almost choked on her food. She put a piece of cheese that was in her hand down immediately. He smiled at her discomfort. Raven washed down the food in her mouth with a big gulp of wine. "A thousand vampires have died trying to drink from witches, and not many succeeded. It makes me wonder..."

Raven's neck suddenly felt absolutely naked. She regretted not wearing something with more skin coverage. Was Roman feeding her, so he could feed on her? Hell fucking no. "Maybe, had they kept their fangs to themselves, we wouldn't have a problem." Raven retorted. He laughed.

"So you do get it." he dropped to a serious tone. "Why the coexistence between vampires and humans, and now witches, is so important. Why is it so crucial for us to keep the peace." He shifted forward on the couch. It was a bit of a reach from what she meant, but she could tell how important this was for Roman. He continued, "Raven, the entire fate of my kind rests in your hands. To avoid all this unnecessary bloodshed you must find and eliminate Russell Edgington quietly, and quickly."

Raven nodded, the reality of the situation painfully sinking in. Salome entered the room, high heels clicking and gave Roman a silent nod. He stood up and walked out through a back door. Raven got up, restless. She looked at Salome, studying her. She reminded her so much of Violet. The sultry eyes, the perfectly warm and shiny hair, pinned up in messy curls. More vampires walked into the room and took their places standing around the large conference table. Raven guessed that these were all the Chancellors of the Authority. One of them was a child wearing a suit. He looked even more out of place than her in this room. After a brief moment, the guards dragged Eric and Bill in, both wearing black hoods over their heads. The guards made them kneel in the center of the room, between the chancellors and the witch. No one said a word. Raven could cut the tension in the room with a knife. Before leaving the room again, the guards removed their hoods.

Roman walked back into the room carrying a wooden box. He placed it carefully on the long table and took out a small golden dropper with a sharp point. He poked his wrist with it, filling the dropper with blood.

"The blood of Lilith." he spoke in old Hebrew, a language Raven hadn't heard in a long time.

Raven frowned immediately at the words. She watched Roman praying out loud while going around the table, giving a drop of blood with the golden device in each of the chancellor's mouth, as if it were a communion, while they knelt for him.

"The first, the last, the eternal. We are born of Lilith, She who was created in God's image. We swear fealty to the blood and to the Progenitor." He walked right next to Raven and knelt briefly, looking to the wooden double doors. She could still hear the faint ringing sound coming from the next room.

"Lord and Lilith, Father and Mother, protect us as we protect you from this day until the hour of True Death." Roman stood up, eyeing Raven. She thought he was going to make her take a drop of his blood, but he didn't. "And in Lord and Lilith's name, we say, until you rise again."

"Until you rise again." The other chancellors repeated as Roman approached them again.

The whole ceremony was absolutely chilling to watch. Raven had no idea vampires also praised Lilith and the Dark Lord. Why did they spend centuries fighting if they believed in the same thing? All the Chancellors stood up, retracting their fangs.

"Mr. Compton," called Roman, after placing the dropper back into its box. "Mr. Northman, to meet under these circumstances, what a shame. One of several recent disappointments. I thought I knew Nora, she's been an ally for the cause for centuries. And she betrayed me. Now she won't even tell me why, no matter how persuasive I can be."

Eric flinched in anger at the implication. It was clear that behind the civil appearance, the Guardian was certainly cruel behind certain doors.

"We're in a real pickle here, boys." He continued. "According to Nan Flannagan... What did she like to call you guys? Fuck up One and Fuck up Two," he laughed pointing at them. "You have made some egregious errors. Persecuting witches? Trying to blow up a store on Main street? Killing an Authority Chancellor?" He shook his head. "If I'm being truthful, Nan was a pain in my ass. But the real kicker here is that you two disobeyed direct orders to kill Russell Edgington. How could you have the audacity of disobeying a direct order? We are the Authority!" He yelled, furious, walking towards Bill and Eric. "I am the Authority!"

No one dared to say a word. Eric and Bill just glared up at Roman in disgust. The way Roman took all the air in the room, and his voice echoed long after he stopped speaking reminded her of her father; it wasn't pleasant.

"Imagine my intrigue when I receive intel that Russell's werewolves were congregating again, and my men find out that they are all high on his fucking blood, again. Now, what I cannot comprehend is why any person with two brain cells would keep that psychopath alive?!"

Silence sat awkwardly in the room. So that is how the Authority found out. But it still didn't explain how Russell got out in the first place.

"Well, you know how these things go, he pissed me off, then I pissed him off..." Eric said lazily.

"No. I don't!" Roman barked back. "Why did you not kill him?!"

"We felt that after what he did, the true death was not good enough for him." Bill explained.

"We wanted him to suffer." added Eric.

"You wanted-" Roman repeated in anger. "You disobeyed the Authority because of your fucking feelings?!" He ran towards his prisoners and held Bill Compton's head with his hands, his fingers digging on his scalp. "I feel like ripping your head off so fucking much!" He roared.

"Guardian!" Eric pleaded. "It was me! I buried Russell."

"You are his King and you allowed this to happen?" Roman said looking straight into Bill Compton's eyes, who said nothing.

Raven could see the Guardian squeezing Bill's head. She was half expecting it to explode like a balloon, but she also knew how Bill would really die. After a moment, Roman's shoulders dropped and he let go of Bill's head. He walked around the two, straightening his collar. He took a deep breath before continuing.

"Fortunately for you, even I know better than to pursue my deepest… Desires," he said glaring at Raven. She didn't dare move. Roman leaned closer to Eric and Bill. "Are you now or have you ever been a member of the Sanguinista movement?"

"I don't even know what it is," Bill confessed. The Guardian then examined Eric.

"I've been trying to stay away from politics these days."

"Have you?" Asked Roman unimpressed.

"And religion." Eric added.

"So you're just in it for yourself? You think the whole concept of the common good is hopelessly naive?"

Eric shrugged, rolling his eyes. Roman turned around and approached the table of Chancellors. He asked them for their opinion.

"Well, it really chaps my ass to say this," said an older woman with bright dyed short red hair who looked like a typical southern republican wife. "But when you got lame horses, you put 'em down. The mainstreaming agenda is just too important. It cannot fail. We cannot let their insubordination stand!"

"They killed an Authority member!" Yelled the little kid in a suit, slapping the table.

"But King Compton also brought us the sorceress, which opens a lot of doors between vampire and wizard relations. And he took down a powerful necromancer!" said a skinny African man.

"As you can see," Roman explained. "The council has been conflicted on keeping you alive. Every vampire on this table has dedicated their entire lives to the mainstreaming. Coexistence with humans is not an option, it's a necessity. It is merciful, it is just. It is vital. And the proof to that is standing right behind you."

All eyes fell on Raven. She felt her cheeks turn pink.

"Witches mainstreamed 400 years ago. They increased their numbers by 40% just by hiding in plain sight. They live among humans and none the wiser."

Roman was not technically wrong, but it wasn't nearly as successful as he made it sound. When they attempted their great revelation around the year 1000, the Pope launched crusades- a worldwide genocide, with the total override of paganism. It's original intent - before it became a war for land, power and influence- was to clear witchcraft from earth and indoctrinate Christianism. Hundreds of thousands of witches of warlocks died. After that, they didn't mainstream per se, they just quietly assimilated. Lived fake lives among humankind, and lived their truth behind closed doors. And in the 1600s, it happened again. Their society and their bloodlines were watered down and scattered in the wind. Sure, there are more magic folk now than ever, but there were very few witches left that still carried the full blood, knowledge of magic, history and their religion. However, witches didn't need humans to survive, but vampires needed their blood to live or, at least, they used to until the invention of synthetic blood. Full bottles of TruBlood sat on the conference table, but Raven noticed they were left untouched by all the Chancellors. A little voice in her head made Raven believe it was all a veil. Vampires haven't gone vegan, the synthetic blood was a political safety curtain for vampires to mainstream into society. It was a very elaborate lie to make humans believe they were safe from becoming a meal.

"Not to mention humans outnumber us 1000 to 1. Any threat to mainstreaming is a threat to our very existence. Fundamentalism is a dead end and I won't fucking have it!" He soared. Salome reached inside the box on the table and took out a large, exquisitely carved wooden stake with a silver tip. Roman took the weapon and walked before Eric and Bill. "Do you have anything to say before I pronounce your true death sentence?"

The two didn't say a word; their silence was deafening. Raven looked at the stake in Roman's hands. She felt every muscle in her body tense up. Her heartbeat probably sounded like a siren to everyone in the room. She felt it again - her blood temperature rise, her spine tickle, static in the air.

"Wait!" She announced. All eyes were back on her. She hated her big mouth, which always spoke before she could stop it. "If you kill the King, I walk." No one in the room moved, but Roman's eyebrows turned downwards in a frown. "I'm only here because he's my employer. Kill him, my contract ends and I'm outta here."

"You'd walk away from our peace treaty?" Roman asked shocked. Raven scoffed, rolling her eyes.

"Yeah. It's not like you're going to successfully enforce it anyway," she repeated Alexander Randall's words.

"You underestimate my power."

"And you underestimate how fucked you are if Russell reveals himself or if anyone recognizes him in public. I watched him speak on TV. He wants complete and total anarchy. He doesn't give a fuck about your agenda and he hasn't fed in over a year. I'm willing to bet the files of missing person reports near wherever he's hiding are stacking up. There is no PR team on earth that will gain back the trust humans have in your administration once they find out you lied to them on national TV." Lord Satan bless Nan Flannagan, Raven thought. She could see the Guardian's eyes darkened in anger, and the rest of the Chancellors shifted uncomfortably in their chairs. They were out of cards, and they knew it.

"Fine. The King lives, but not the Sheriff."

"Actually, I'll need him too."

"For what?" barked the lady with the tacky red hair.

"I will do the tracking, he will do the capturing. He's the only one strong enough to do it." She stared at Roman who didn't say a word. "Those are my terms." After a moment, he angrily slammed the stake on the table and looked back down at Bill and Eric. He turned to Salome, who looked amused at the whole ordeal.

"They put him in the ground once," she said smiling.

"You lucky sons of bitches." he spat, turning back. "Fine, but you're both going. And if you succeed, I will sign a contract with you Raven." her eyes widened. "Witches will be protected." Raven could breathe again, and so could Bill and Eric. Bill looked at her, grateful.

"And one more thing," Raven added looking directly at Compton, riding the high. "I will track Russell Edgington at the cost of four hundred thousand dollars." Eric and Roman raised their eyebrows. Bill pursed his lips and squinted his blue eyes.

"What is she talking about?" asked Eric confused.

"That's the entire value of our contract," he explained. "If she fulfills it, she's free." He looked back at the witch. Raven wore the most satisfied smile on her face, she felt she was absolutely glowing inside, especially when she heard the King, on his knees look up to her say the magic word. "Deal."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!
> 
> Finally a light at the end of the tunnel for Raven! Kudo/comment below, much love xoxox  
PS: next Chapter is a spicy one ;)


	6. The Cage

The guards escorted Eric away from the Authority's grand room after strapping him into the death trap they called iStake. He assumed he was being taken back to his cell when they took a turn down one level lower. This floor was less office-like, with warmer lighting and more decor. He was surprised to be taken to a bedroom, and even more surprised once he learned whose it was.

"Sheriff Northman," said Salome standing by her vanity. "Good evening."

Her long, curly brown hair cascaded the back of her white silk robes that showed off her curves. The guards locked the room the door as they shut it. This was not his cell in the traditional sense, but it was very much still a cell. Although he preferred this over the UV lights.

"Thank you, Chancellor, for your support at the hearing," he said promptly. "We owe you our lives."

"Oh," she laughed. "You can drop it. I have this room swept for bugs daily, no one can hear us," Salome told him as she walked over to the couch in front of him. "We can be ourselves here." Yeah, I don't think so, he thought. "Please, sit."

Eric obeyed, sitting beside Salome, but not too close. She poured them both a glass of blood. Eric was famished but he hesitated to drink it until she took the first sip. Salome wasn't to be trusted farther than he could spit.

"I must confess I'm surprised, Mr. Northman," she told him, still smiling. "I expected that you'd at least try to save her."

"Save who?"

"Your sister," Salome said. Eric's stomach dropped. How did she know? "Don't worry, your secret is safe with me. Even Nora doesn't know I know."

Safe was the furthest thing he felt right now. He considered how fast they would activate his iStake if he ripped her head off right this instant.

"How?" Was all he managed to say.

"Godric," she told him. "Oh, he was glorious. Well, before he fell in with the witches and lost his way." She sighed. What the fuck was that supposed to mean? "But he loved you the most, and now I see why."

Eric could tell Salome was playing games - and he didn't like being toyed with. What the hell did she want? He looked away, no longer standing the sight of her. He hated when other people talked about Godric - like they knew him, like they loved him.

"Nora risked everything for you," she continued. "And you're willing to let us execute her for it?"

"I don't have a choice."

"There is always a choice. Godric gave you one when you were bleeding out on that pyre," Eric swore if she said his name one more time he was going to pull her asshole through her mouth. Goddamn Authority. "Be his companion or die."

"Are you lonely?" He asked, trying to conceal his ire. "Is this how you make friends?"

Salome gave him a sour look and stood up. "Friends you can trust are a rare commodity," she paced around the room. No fucking kidding. "I sponsored Nora's chancellorship, did you know that?"

"Hm," Eric nodded. "So her betrayal makes you look particularly bad." Salome shook her head in disapproval. Whatever game this was, Eric wasn't going to let her win. He was done letting the Authority win.

"You're cold," she whispered. "It's because you've been hurt, and that wound is still fresh, isn't?" Sookie's warm smile flashed through his mind for some reason. He didn't like it. She was a like a bitter aftertaste that never quit his mouth.

"Yeah, well. I heal quick."

"Perhaps I can speed that along?" she said approaching the bed.

"What do you want from me?"

"I want to be your friend," Salome told him, dropping her robe and revealing her whole body. She laid on the bed, on her side, showing off her perfect hourglass body. "But it's what you want that intrigues me."

What he wanted wasn't her, but If it was this game that she wanted to play, Eric would happily oblige. He always won at this game.

* * *

Eric closed the door to Salome's room right behind him as he stepped into the hallway. He adjusted the uncomfortable iStake strap carefully under his shirt, praying to the universe that it wouldn't trigger the device. It hugged him tight, and the straps were still wet from his shower. He showered after fucking Salome and quite frankly it wasn't even worth it. Yes, she was gorgeous and powerful and skilled, but there was something off, she wasn't… He shook his head, trying to think of something else. He walked towards his room at the end of the hallway. He was looking forward to having some alone time, and getting to sleep on a luxurious bed, sprawled out and naked. Just for a minute, he hoped his mind wouldn't be flooded with the Authority, Russell, Bill, Nora, or even Raven.

He opened the door of his assigned room and entered. It was a beautiful large bedroom, stone-carved walls, beautiful columns, a King-sized bed with dark purple silk sheets up on a platform and a living room area with velvet black couches. The lights were dimmed and the room glowed with lit candles and the smell of essential oils took over his senses. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed he wasn't alone. There was a large boutique tub near the wall, almost overflowing with bubbles and a pale witch soaking in it, hair pinned up, pale neck exposed, reading an old leather-bound book.

"Why is it that I lived on this earth for hundreds of years without meeting a single witch and now I can't get rid of you?" He complained.

Raven shrugged, not responding. Eric groaned, taking his jacket off. The iStake was constricting and honestly, it was already starting to piss him off - even more than being denied some peace and quiet. He took off his shirt tossing it onto the couch along with his jacket.

Raven seemed entertained by her reading in the giant tub, and honestly, she way too happy. He was still incredibly pissed at her. Raven had removed all his blood bonds. He didn't care about his bond with his human toys and Sookie… It was probably for the best. But he couldn't help feeling devastated about Pam. She was probably frantically looking for him, feeling the dark emptiness that it was to lose the bond with her maker. Eric knew that pain all too well, he still felt the hole in his chest from losing Godric. Eric knew, ever since making Pam the sole beneficiary of his will a year ago when Russell was a real threat, that he should have set her free. She would never willingly leave his side, and she deserved a life of her own. But he wanted to be the one to do it, not Raven. He wondered if he would ever have the courage to actually do it, to actually say the words to release Pam. His jaw tightened. The choice was taken from him. Raven had no right, but at the same time, she bought him time to fix his mistakes and second chances were a miracle at this point. Eric doubted he would survive finding Russell or even the Authority afterwards. All he hoped was that he would have a chance to see Pam again, at least to say goodbye.

"How the hell can you be taking a bath right now? Don't you have an extraordinarily expensive contract to fulfill?" He snapped.

"Well I would if someone hadn't blown up my maps and crystals in an attempt to escape their superiors," she replied. "I gave the guard the list of items I need, I'll start the second he comes back." Her eyes left the book and she finally paid attention to him. "What the hell is that?" She asked nodding at the cross on his chest.

"Electronic staking device. The Authority presses one button and I'm goop. Bill and I are stuck in it until Russell is found and killed." Eric said approaching on the bed, kicking off his shoes.

"Roman could smell you on me from across the room," she told him going back to her novel. Eric shrugged, taking off his pants. "And according to this ridiculous and insane book, since you drank my blood you can lay claim on me, you own me like cattle or something," she said laughing, putting the book down on the floor and getting up from the frothy tub. Eric looked at the book she put down. It was the Vampire Bible - written by and for circle-jerking self-obsessed lunatics.

"That's just about the only thing the book got right, actually."

"So no other vampire will bite me because you own me?" She repeated, wrapping herself up with a soft large white towel.

"Yes. It's not only your blood that comes with a fine print," he explained while sitting on the bed. Raven approached him, but Eric still tried to avoid her eyes. He just looked at her neck instead. His mouth salivated, hunger quickly taking over.

"Let me make myself very clear," she said, dropping her towel and standing right in front of him. Her body was like a magnet to him. He could feel her pull from deep in his bones. Her fingertips traced the pentagram below her breasts. His hands grabbed the back of her soft thighs. Her skin was so warm and smooth as silk. "You do not own me. Only Satan does."

She stood so close he could feel the heat radiate off her skin. Her smell was intoxicating. He wanted to eat her whole, to get lost inside her, to forget all the hurt.

"Well, the devil can go fuck himself," he told her, leaning towards her hoping to kiss her.

But Raven's eyes darkened and her brows frowned. "You're a dick," she barked, avoiding him and grabbing a blanket off the bed and walking away.

She curled on the couch across the room, burying herself in the dark fluffy blanket, her back turned to him. Eric laid alone in the big bed. He stared at the ceiling listening to Raven's heartbeat slowing down gently. He could still smell her scent lingering in the air. Finally, some peace. When he fell asleep, it was like falling asleep at home.

* * *

Raven stood in the dark, foggy woods. It was pure silence. For a second she forgot about Eric until she quickly turned around and saw him. He stood there, as naked as she was, in the woods with her. His eyes took in her body, pleased. Even though he had already seen her naked multiple times, he always looked her body as if it were the first time he ever saw it. She knew none of this was technically real; it was just a dream. But Eric was real. He was walking in her dreams and whatever happened while they slept, he would remember too just as if this were his dream.

"So… What is this place?" He asked looking curiously all around them.

"Salem woods, kind of," she told him. She still couldn't believe her eyes.

"Hm," he nodded."This place smells like you."Raven frowned confused."Pine, spruce, dirt, woods, sometimes fresh snow."

"That sounds..." She wrinkled her nose in disapproval.

"No, I like it. It reminds me of where I grew up," he added.

"Oh, you're in for a treat then, because this is the only place I ever dream of," Raven told him as she started walking between the trees, Eric lazily followed.

"What do you mean, this is the only place you ever dream of?"

"Exactly what I said."

"You only ever have one dream?" He doubted her.

"For the past 266 years give or take, yes. And this is it."

"That... I don't think that's normal."

"You are a vampire walking in a witch's dream and you wanna talk about normal?" He didn't answer, as his eyes were lost in the trees. She found the dirt path about fifteen feet away and walked towards it. "Plus there has been some changes, this path appeared about a month ago."

"Where does it go?"

"No where. The forest never ends going in any direction. It's never day time; there's never anyone else here. Well, until now."

They walked along the path for a while in silence. She quietly watched him. Eric was… Stunning. He had a sharp jaw, icy blue eyes, and a strong nose. The perfect amount of scruff, but it wasn't too harsh on her skin when they kissed.

"This is boring." Eric sighed. Raven smiled. Yes, being stuck in her recurring forest dreams were really fucking boring. "You could be dreaming of anything. Paris, Hong Kong, Marrakech…"

"Never been."

"London?"

"Not since I was a little kid."

"You're telling me you are 400 years old and never seen the world?" She could feel his eyes judging her. "Why the hell not?"

"Why is it so hard for you to believe that I like my quiet life the way it is?" She told him crossing her arms.

"Was," he corrected her with a smirk.

Before she could say anything both of them stopped in the middle of the path. There was a sound. Eric's fangs descended angrily, his chest grew and his hands turned into fists. He was ready to attack.

"There's something here," he warned her.

Raven became quite nervous. She had never experienced anything out of the ordinary in this forest, other than the appearance of the path - and now Eric. But the sound that echoed around them and vibrated through the trees was one that she heard before, just a few hours ago. It was the same ringing from the mysterious room in the Authority's main quarters. But what was it doing here? How did it find her? And what the hell was it? Whatever it was, it wrecked fear in Eric, who was ready to attack whatever the noise was.

Both of them woke up with a jolt. There was a knock on the bedroom door, that shook them wide awake. Raven quickly got up and put on her black slip dress on her way to the door. She opened the bedroom door only to find a very eager Bill Compton. He looked deep in her eyes with a nervous look on his face, then nodded. She knew why he stood by her door. Raven turned around and looked at Eric, who was still sitting in bed, gloriously naked.

"It's show time," she told him.

* * *

Raven walked into the Authority's main room accompanied by Eric, Bill and two guards. The Guardian, Salome and all the other Chancellors were anxiously waiting around their large table. She could hear the faint ringing again coming from behind the wooden doors across the room. It was strange how she could hear it so clearly in her dreams. She looked at Eric who intensely death glared Roman. If he heard the ringing in the room now, he didn't show it. In the room were also more guards and a short woman wearing a headset and holding on to a small computer screen. On the top of the center table was a set of maps, about 20 different crystals, a surgical metal bowl and a large pile of myrrh.

"Alright, let's see what you can do," said Roman eagerly, handing her the vial with Russell's hair.

Raven nodded and took a deep breath. She'd never done magic in front of an audience. This better work, she prayed. This better be his hair and Russell better be alive because she knew the Authority wouldn't be able to get their hands on a Dead realm map, nor did she bring her realm stones with her. But it should work, everything that was on the table seemed correct. She activated her index finger Punctum ring, and her fingernail grew into a sharp point. She dragged her nail on the table's perfectly polished wood, scratching a circle on it. She heard the red-headed vampire gasp.

"What in God's name do you think you're doin'?" She protested, literally clutching her pearls. "Do you have any idea how expensive African Blackwood tables are?!"

"Rosalyn, with the amount of tax I pay the Authority you can buy ten of these tables a day. Let her work," Bill insisted, making Rosalyn bite her lips.

Raven focused on finishing the magic circle, the same one she had on her table in her study. Agatha made her practice drawing all thirteen magic keys every single day for decades as a child. She remembered she hated the exercise, but she was grateful for it at this moment. The circle was intricate, it had specific proportions, angles, and rune placements on it.

"The key of Solomon." Salome declared.

Raven was surprised a vampire recognized it. Raven nodded and opened the vial containing Russell's hair and put the fine strands in the bowl, along with the myrrh and a dark ruby crystal. "Spirity alligandi carnis lapidi." Raven stated, putting the bowl in the magic circle.

The bowl combusted in a bright red burst of flames, before dying. The crimson crystal she picked was now a black crystal cone. Next, she moved over, opening up the maps. She started with the United States map. Alright, here goes nothing.

"Haec ipsa dea noctis quaerere, hoc corpore saxum, locum tuum revelare." The red cone moved like a chess piece to the top of the Louisiana state. No one in the room was even breathing. Bill Compton flipped through the maps quickly and pulled out a large and more detailed Louisiana map. He rolled it out right on top of the previous one. He nodded anxiously.

"Haec ipsa dea noctis quaerere, hoc corpore saxum, locum tuum revelare," she repeated. The cone moved again, slightly southwest of Ruston. Bill shuffled through the papers again and pulled out a map of northern Louisiana. Raven said the spell for a third time, and the cone moved near the corner of routes 147 and 155. Bill looked through the stacks of maps, but the one rolled out on the table was the most detailed one of the regions.

"There you have it, Guardian," Raven told him.

"Molly?" He referred to the short woman with the headset.

"On it," she said, tapping energetically on the computer screen. "Most probably location is the abandoned insane asylum just off Sandhill road. Isolated, middle of nowhere, light-tight basement. It checks out, sir."

Raven had no idea how the vampire found out that information so quickly, but she wasn't going to argue. Technology was this century's magic, and she barely understood it. Roman looked at Salome, who nodded.

"Alright you three, we are sending you with backup. If Russell isn't there, or if he escapes, you're dead, got it?"

"Yes, sir." Bill agreed.

The guards lead the trio into the elevator. They rode all the way up alone. Raven was nervous about what was coming next.

"Even if we find Russell, we still have a leak problem, Eric." Bill told him, breaking the silence.

"I know," he said plainly. "It's not Pam," he added.

"How can you be so certain?"

"Because I am!" Eric's voice grew irritated.

"And Nora?" Raven asked.

"She was in the Authority, why would I tell her? Give me some credit here."

"If she was planning a coup," Bill continued. "Russell would be the perfect martyr. She told us herself there are factions within the Authority," he explained. She hated to admit it, but Bill was right.

"You should shut your mouth right now Compton, Nora is getting flayed fucking alive as we speak because she was trying to help us!" He yelled.

"Was she helping us, though? Where the hell do you think they c taking us?"

"Boys, boys!" Raven warned. "Focus on the task at hand here. I can't have you distracted, we have to kill Russell Edgington who's older than all of us combined."

She had no patience left to argue with Bill or Eric. Guards led them into the ground level of the warehouse where they hopped in the back of a black van. Unceremoniously, the guard shut the door behind them, knocked on it twice and the vehicle started to move. Raven should have felt better for leaving the underground, but she still felt like a prisoner. She was a prisoner at the headquarters, in her bedroom, in this van. But she had no other choice. Until her contract was finished, she had to go on. Raven didn't know how to fight, or any offensive spells. Witches weren't allowed to participate in duelling tournaments - that was still considered a man's sport. Fucking ridiculous. The amount of bullshit she would have been spared had she just been born a boy surprised her every time. She just hoped that if push came to shove, that she could trust the two vampires. She looked at the pair sitting on the bench across from her, both men looking at her as if she held all the answers.

This was one hell of a cage to be in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait! I know I promised a spicy chapter but the scene I wrote didn't turn out like I wanted. But it will come! I also had some plot issues to work out before I could post again. I changed a lot of what I had planned, but it will be much better this way! I hope to post more often from now on :)


	7. The Hunt

“Hold on, let me get this straight,” Raven asked curiously. The van had been driving for hours and she made the mistake of trying to settle an argument between Bill and Eric. “You and Sookie dated for two years almost got engaged, you got kidnapped, she rescued you then broke up with you because she discovered you manipulated her into falling in love, then she spent 20 minutes in the Enchanted Kingdom, then four days with Eric-”  
“Having wild, primal, nonstop sex, yes.” Eric interrupted smirking. Bill said nothing but looked annoyed at Eric.  
“Then Sookie spent four… Passionate days with Eric when he didn’t even know what colour the sky was. And once Eric got his memories back and she no longer wanted him,”  
“Because Eric is a pathological liar and a sociopath,” explained Bill.  
“You lied to her first! I’m the one who told her the truth!” Eric protested.  
“Oh, and you never lied to her?” Bill bickered, laughing sarcastically.  
“And then she broke up with you again because…?”  
“He’s a power-hungry, self-righteous asshole who takes everyone’s sacrifices for granted,” Eric added.  
“Because she wanted a normal life,” Bill told her ignoring Eric. She could see the pain in his eyes. “One with less violence, and less death and blood, less-”  
The van came to a complete stop. A guard stepped outside and unlocked the back door, letting them out. They were on an old dark narrow road with lumpy and broken pavement. It was a moonless night, Raven could barely see ten feet in front of her. Woods surrounded them both sides, indicating the obvious: they were in the middle of nowhere. The guard motioned for the three to walk down the road. She realized the so-called backup was for making sure they actually got here, not for actually backing them up. They started to walk when they reached an old driveway that led to an abandoned and creepy hospital. Eric and Bill broke branches of some trees and formed stakes with it. The windows of the asylum were boarded up, and Raven could smell decay and death from the outside. The inside was dark and empty. Their steps echoed on the old vinyl flooring.  
“Even if we split up, it’s a lot of ground to cover before dawn,” Bill complained.  
“Light tight basement!” Raven exclaimed. “That’s what the lady with the headset said, right? That’s probably where he’ll be.”  
The two vampires nodded and the trio started looking for the fire emergency staircase. The place was textbook abandoned asylum: scattered creepy 70's furniture, old medical equipment, broken floor tiles, dusty plastic tarps, and rats crawling along the baseboards. There was a strong stench of mould, wet dog and death that made Raven’s stomach start to turn. They found a staircase that lead downstairs and it was absolutely pitch black in it.  
“Lumen,” Raven whispered, creating a small bright ball of white light on the palm of her hand that lit the dark stairs.  
Down in the basement, the floors were covered in wet red dirt, and the whole level smelled like feces, urine, decay, and Satan knew what else. The place made Raven’s skin crawl and the hairs on the arm stand straight up. Her witch intuition was ringing all sorts of bells, telling her to turn around and get the hell out of there, peace treaty be damned.  
“Looks like we are in the right place,” said Eric stopping in front of a room.  
Raven and Bill peaked by Eric's shoulders. There was a pile of dead body parts covered with live rats, feasting on their rotting flesh. The smell was so strong Raven almost threw up her dinner. It was hard to tell how many bodies were in the pile, but Raven realized Russell had eaten a lot since his escape. The knowledge Russell Edgington was really fucking close made Raven’s body start cold sweating. His maniacal laugh coming from the television rang in her head. She looked at Eric and Bill who held their stakes high, their fangs were out and their bodies were ready to fight. She had no idea how they felt so confident at a time like this, but she was glad they didn’t look scared. They moved on down the dark hallway when they heard the sound of chains rattling. Carefully, and almost without breathing, they followed the sound. They reached another room, and it took a moment for Raven to understand what she was looking at. There were about 8 people tied in body jackets, hanging from the pipes near the ceiling. Most of them were passed out, but one man was agitated, his body twitching in a panic.  
“Please! Help me!” The man cried, legs swinging. It was his chains that were making all the noise. “Don’t take me! It’s not my turn yet! Please take someone else! That guy! He looks tasty right?” The man begged nodding at the old man hanging beside him, who was asleep...or dead, she couldn't tell.  
“Psst!” Bill shushed him. The man fell silent. “Where have they taken the others?” He whispered.  
“Down the hallway, to the right,” he cried scared. “Please take me down! Don’t leave me here! I have money, I can pay you!”  
“Psst!” Bill repeated impatiently. “We’ll come back for you if you shut up,” Bill Compton looked at Raven, taking a deep breath. “Are you ready?”  
Raven nodded nervously. They left the room, and Raven could see a dim light coming from the next door over. Eric and Bill held their wooden stakes high. They approached the room carefully, Eric going in first. The room was a morgue, with a wall full of drawers, and in the middle was a hospital bed with a frail small man laying.  
“Took you long enough,” Russell complained. It was surreal to see one of the biggest terrorists of this century laying down just feet away from her. He looked so small and harmless. “What an infernal racket you people have been making.”  
“Hello old friend,” Eric greeted, bringing his stake closer. “Remember me? We’ve come to finish what we started.”  
“Well, as my great love Talbot used to say when we were buck hunting… Give it your best shot.”  
Four large wolves appeared. Two from the morgue drawers, and two behind them from the hallway, blocking them in. Their yellow glowy eyes and their abnormally large size gave away that these were no wolves but werewolves. Eric attacked Russell who pushed him across the room and against the wall - his frail appearance was just that, an appearance. Two wolves lunged at Bill, dragging him away into the dark hallway. Another jumped at Raven, who fell back on the cold wet floor. Her light spell went out, plunging everyone into the darkness. The wolf's teeth sunk on her forearm and pulled, tearing her skin. She screamed in pain, feeling the sharp teeth hit the bone in her forearm. She activated all her Punctum rings at once and stabbed the wolf in the chest, penetrating through the cavity. She could feel the warm heart muscle beating in her hand when she squeezed tight and pulled it out with all the strength she had. The werewolf let out a faint howl before turning into a human, falling naked on top of her. Feeling the warm blood gush all over her torso, Raven pushed the man off of her. He looked young, maybe 20 years old. She had no time to absorb what she had done. She dropped the dead werewolf’s heart on the floor and ran down the hallway looking for Bill or Eric, following the noise of the fight. She could still see very little in the dark basement, but casting a light spell again would attract attention.  
Raven felt a rush of air before something pushed her hard against the wall. Russell Edgington - in the flesh - was standing right in front of her, inches from her face, holding her shoulders against the wall.  
“Well, well, well… What do we have here?” He asked amused. He grabbed her left arm, which was bleeding profusely from the werewolf bite. “Is this a pre-industrialization human? Purely organic, fertilizer and pesticide-free blood? Where have you been hiding, my darling?” He smelled it deeply as if she were a wine tasting. His fangs descended instantly. They were thicker and longer than any other fang she’s ever seen. She could feel her blood getting hot, and the prickles of static on her skin.  
“Obstupefacio!” Raven cast a freezing spell. She held Russell in place, but she could feel him slowly breaking it, by moving his face towards her. It was like an invisible wall, pushing against her magic. Even starved, he was incredibly strong.  
A blur hit Russell, taking him down. Eric had tackled him, pushing him against the opposite wall. She’s never seen him so furious. Raven still concentrated, trying to hold Russell still. Edgington still stared at her in delight. He had understood what she was.  
“Look at me!” Eric yelled again, pressing the wooden stake on Russell’s chest. He looked at the Viking. “I want to be the last thing you ever see.”  
“Kill him now Eric! I can’t hold him for much longer!” Raven begged.  
The cries of werewolves and the sound of fighting ceased. Bill ran to Eric and poked his back with a stake also.  
“What the hell are you doing?!” She cried.  
“If he dies, we most certainly die,” Bill warned them. “If we take him back alive, maybe we don’t have to die.”  
“Unlikely.”  
“But possible!” Bill drove the tip of his stake harder into Eric’s back, who winced in pain. “Eric I don’t want to die,” Bill begged.  
Raven knew Bill wasn't going to die, not tonight anyway. But she didn't want the Authority to execute Eric. Why did she care for him? That moment felt like ages. No one moved. Raven’s body was starting to feel heavy, her magic being drained by the spell every second. Russell was starting to push Eric back, who was still undecided about killing Russell or not.  
“Everyone freeze!” A deep familiar voice echoed in the basement.  
Suddenly flashlights flooded the hallway and two dozen armed guards invaded the decaying basement from every direction. One of the Chancellors - the tall slim black man - ordered everyone to stand down. Their so-called ‘back up’ had some weird timing. The guards arrested Russell Edgington and started to assess the poor human prisoners. Slowly, the guards took them out of the basement for medical assistance and probably glamouring them all to forget the whole thing. She couldn’t believe her eyes. Bill, Eric and Raven had done it. They had tracked and captured the world’s most dangerous vampire. And most important of all - Raven was free. Guards were taking Russell away when he snapped at the Chancellor.  
“You better hope you’re not around when I’m fully restored!” Russell yelled. “And oh I will be. I will be fully restored! Authority,” Russell spat on the floor in disgust. “What fucking authority do you have? Given by who? Lilith? You fucking idiots! You’re no better than humans for your absurd magical thinking! There is no Lilith. You might as well be praying to the Kardashians!”  
“I beg your fucking pardon,” Raven approached Russell and with a closed fist, punched him in the face. Russell took two steps back, almost losing balance. “Watch your mouth you blasphemous prick.”  
“A fucking witch!” Russel said standing back up. “Disgusting. Your kind is fucking worse than a human!” The guard finally took him away, while he still cursed up a storm.  
The Chancellor approached Bill and Eric. “Congratulations. No one in the Authority actually believed you’d pull this off. The Guardian has been informed and is extremely pleased.”  
“Pleased enough not to kill us?” Eric asked, hopeful.  
“Only Lilith knows that.”  
“Sir, I was wondering if we are heading back to the headquarters right away?”  
“We weren’t expecting anyone to be here, let alone live humans. We have to wait until the cleanup squad to arrive and deal with the bodies… And a glamour squad for the living,” he added. “Why?”  
“I was hoping to make a quick stop home to make sure no other witch uprisings have taken place. Until someone else is appointed, I am still the King after all.”  
Raven cocked an eyebrow. Bitch what? The Chancellor thought for a second, looking at Bill and Eric. “You still have your iStakes on?”  
“Yes sir,” said Eric eagerly.  
The Chancellor hesitated but agreed as long as they would be ready to go when he called them.

* * *

Eric strolled in Fangtasia where he was welcomed by Ginger’s high pitched squeals. The place was half full of people lounging and drinking, his throne was empty, everything was unchanged. Everything was just as he left it.  
“Oh my GOD, you’re back! We’ve been so worried -” Ginger screamed while shaking. It’s been twenty years but her spirit had yet to settle down.  
“Where’s Pam?” he asked her, leaning on the bar.  
“Oh. Uhm. Out?” She shrugged. She was useless.  
“Close the bar, go home.”  
“But it’s early...” She argued.  
“Do it, Ginger!” He yelled, returning to his throne.  
Ginger killed the music, turned the lights on and proceeded to kick everyone out. Eric waited alone for Pam nervously, while sitting on his chair. There was still a leak, and the list of suspects was short. There were only three other people who knew where Russell was: Alcide, Bill, and Pam. He glamoured Alcide to forget the whole thing happened. Bill swore he told no one. This only left one choice: Pam. This infuriated him. How could she do this? He gave her immortality, a life worth living, he quite literally had given her everything. Why would she do this? Was she mad about being stuck in Shreveport? Was she angry that he had fallen for Sookie? He hoped he never gave her the impression there was someone he loved more because there wasn’t. There would never be - Pamela was his only progeny. He made her with his own blood. After sitting in silence for some time stewing in anger, the front door unlocked.  
“Ginger why is the club closed? We’re open until 4, you bleach-bucket!” Pam yelled entering Fangtasia.  
Another pair of heels joined her, Pam had brought… Tara, into the club. Both of them stopped dead in their tracks at the sight of him sitting on the throne.  
“Eric! Holy shit!” Pam gasped. “Sookie you fucking did it,” she whispered under her breath. Eric continued to stare at Tara. Why was she with Pam? And why was she covered in blood and dirt?  
“Why is she with you?”  
“Uh… She’s mine. I made her a vampire while you were gone,” she explained shily. “Congratulations, you’re a grandfather,” Pam added with a yellow smile.  
Eric stood up quietly. He motioned for Tara to leave the room, but she ignored him, walking closer to Pam. This was not the time or place to be cute.  
“Leave us!” He yelled running up to Pam, inches close to her face.  
Pam grew nervous. She told Tara to leave them and go up to the office. Eric looked at Pam in disgust. How? How could she betray him like this? Maybe it was a very good thing that they no longer had a blood bond. It would be much easier for him to get rid of her this way.  
“Where the hell were you? Eric, I can’t feel you anymore, what happened?” Pam’s voice was cracking.  
“You betrayed me,” Eric said, holding back his anger.  
“Betray you?” She repeated. “Never.”  
“Don’t you dare lie to me!” He threatened, raising his voice which made Pam flinch. “Somebody dug up Russel Edgington. Somebody drove him to an abandoned building and fetched him humans to feed on.”  
“What?” She looked at him confused. “Eric, I-”  
“Why Pam?”  
“I didn’t do it!” She protested.  
Eric lost it. He grabbed Pam by the throat and threw her back on top of the bar. How could she have the nerve to lie to his fucking face? “Stop fucking lying!” He roared, his anger echoing in the empty club.  
“I’m not lying!” Pam cried without fighting. “I swear I didn’t do it!”  
He looked deep in her scared blued eyes. She wasn’t lying, or… Eric had grown weak and couldn’t tell. Love had made him blind. He let her go, walking away before ripping her head off.  
She continued to cry. “What’s happened to you, Eric? I can’t feel you anymore... You left without a word, not even a text. I spent days trying to find you and now that you’re here, you accuse me of…” She sobbed, getting up. “A century together, and never once have I ever done anything to hurt you, to hurt us!” Her voice grew louder, angrier. “How could you even think I would go and dig up Russell Edgington? You’re my maker, Eric. Even if I don’t feel you anymore, you’re my maker! And I would die for you, gladly, a thousand times before I would ever betray you. You know this!”  
“Then you are a fool. I trust no one and you shouldn’t either.”  
“If I mean so little to you, then why keep me around?” She retorted. Eric turned to face her. Pam was now angry, different tears rolling down her perfect makeup. “If you can’t trust me more than Bill Compton, a werewolf, or even freaking Morticia Addams, then release me! Just say the words. Say it!” She challenged him.  
There. Right there was the Pam he knew and loved. Defiant. Fearless. Loyal. But if she didn’t release Russell, then who the hell did? Watching Pam stand there in tears, in the middle of the club they built together, broke his heart into a million pieces. He hated himself for doubting her. It wasn’t until now that he realized he didn’t feel her either. He couldn’t release her, because Raven already had. Their bond may be gone, but it was time for him to let Pam go. He had known this for quite some time. He had to do it.  
“As your maker,” Eric declared. “I release you.” Pam gasped quietly.  
“No...” She cried, more tears running down her face. “Eric, I can’t… I won’t do this without you.”  
Eric got closer, putting his arms around her. “Pam, Russel has been captured but I am still facing treason charges and I’m not going to fool myself into thinking the Authority is going to let me live.”  
Pam stood still, tears still running down her face. “But I thought you had friends in the Authority.” Pam sobbed, breaking his heart into a million pieces.  
“She can’t help me anymore. And you can do this. You have been doing it already for four days.” Her eyes met his, confused. “After Raven was shot in front of Moon Goddess, I drank her blood. The blood of a pure witch erases all other blood bonds a vampire has. I’ve released you without even knowing.”  
“So you mean… Raven released me?” She repeated angrily.  
“Pam, she… I should have done this before,” he explained. “I should have released you years ago because you are my only prodigy. My one legacy. I need you to live when I’m gone. Take care of Fangtasia, take care of Tara just as I took care of you. Continue our empire.”  
They held each other quietly for a moment before Pam wiped her tears away. “If that is what you wish…” She whispered, “I understand. And I accept. But you have to admit something to me.”  
“What is it?”  
“That what you drank wasn’t the blood of a witch,” Pam said looking up to him with a serious expression on her face. “But that her blood was fucking poison.”

* * *

Bill and Raven drove down the road, headed to the Compton Estates. Eric had left for Fangtasia to look for Pam alone. Even though she was stuck with Bill, Raven just enjoyed the bit of silence of the car ride. She was still over the moon, so pleased Russell was captured and that she now walked and breathed a free witch. Alexander Randall was wrong, witches were going to be safe. The Guardian was going to put it in contract, and she was going to add some delicious loopholes in it. The era of vampire rule was going to be fucking over. Raven stared at her freshly healed left arm. She couldn’t even tell her skin was shredded an hour ago. Eric’s blood was powerful, and it made her feel powerful too. She had so much of his blood lately, she wondered if she had any of her own running through her veins.  
“Raven,” Bill suddenly broke the silence. “Isn’t that an omen of death? Why did your parents name you that?”  
She was surprised by the question. “It’s an old witch tradition. For every baby girl who loses their mother during childbirth, they are named Raven.”  
“Oh,” he frowned sadly.  
“It’s supposed to be a badge of honour. A witch so powerful she kills her own mother when she enters the world.”  
“That’s quite a terrible thing to glorify if you ask me.”  
Raven shrugged. The King was right. “It is what it is.”  
“What was going to be your name?” He asked. Raven paused for a moment. No one had ever asked her that before.  
“Isobel,” she told him quietly.  
"Do you think your life would have been easier if you didn't have such an ominous name?"  
Something about that question bothered her. Probably because of the answer. “Do you think the world would have been better if you never became a vampire? If you had just died when you were supposed to?” She asked boldly.  
Bill frowned at the question. Holding the steering wheel tightly, he suddenly took a turn down a different road - one she had been in before. They were now headed to Sookie’s house.  
“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Raven asked, curious.  
“I have to see if she’s okay,” he nodded.  
“Wasn’t the whole point of you staying away is so she would be okay?”  
Bill ignored her, turning off the car. He exited, and Raven followed him in silence. Her yellow car was in the driveway, and the house lights were won. As they approached the porch, Raven felt a tingle running down her arms. She tugged on Bill’s arm.  
“There’s a trap,” she pointed at the little alarm near the front door.  
“What? How do you-”  
Raven picked up a pebble and threw at the device installed on the porch, which then sprayed a liquid like a sprinkler for about 5 seconds. It was probably laced with silver. Sookie wasn’t stupid - with no Eric or Bill to protect her, she had to take care of herself, and she’s done it.  
“Witch’s intuition,” she told him.  
Bill shook his head, walking around the house, trying to peek in through the windows. They found her in the living room, on top of a very large muscular man, making out and half-naked. Damn girl, get it. Raven thought, smiling. The guy was insanely hot. Scruffy beard, shoulders of a fireman, smooth dark brown hair, tanned skin. An ass of the Gods. Bill, on the other hand, did not approve. His brows frowned, his fangs came out angrily.  
“Sookie sure moves on awfully fast,” Raven joked, trying to lighten up the mood. Bill looked ready to pounce through the window. “Bill, this is what she wanted, remember? A normal human life? Well, humans have sex with other humans.”  
“Except that’s Alcide, and he’s a goddamn werewolf!” Bill hissed at her. Oh. Awkward. “Let’s go.” he huffed, going back to the car.  
Raven didn’t know her very well, but she concluded that Sookie Stackhouse… kinda sucked.

* * *

Bill drove in silence the rest of the way. Respecting his right to sulk alone, she asked him to drop her off at Lafayette’s house until he was done checking up on witches uprising or whatever the fuck that meant. Without many words, he agreed. He dropped her off and went. Maybe to creep back on Sookie, she didn’t know or care. To her delight, Lafayette was up, the warm yellow lights shining from the small shack he lived in. Raven knocked happily but met a very tired Lafayette, joint in hand.  
“Surprise!” She cheered. “Russell is caught and I’m alive!”  
Lafayette peeked outside both ways before letting her in. “Alright Buffy, come in.” he gestured.  
“Who are you hiding from?”  
“My cousin,” he told her after putting out the joint on the ashtray.  
“Tara? What happened?”  
“Sookie goddamn Stackhouse happened, das what,” Raven could hear the anger in his voice. “Yous stay away from her, she’s like the angel of death.”  
It seemed that Sookie was pissing off everyone these days. They both sat down, Lucifer came in running and jumped on her lap. He sniffed her neck and gave her little kisses on the cheek. The little piglet melted away any worries, anguish or anger she had, just for a second.  
“Did yous really catch Russell Edgington and kill him?” Lafayette asked, melting into the couch.  
“Catch, yes. Kill? No. I’m actually headed back to the Authority in a bit to sign a peace treaty with the Guardian.”  
Lafayette actually sat back up at those words. Raven summoned her luggage, and stuck her arm in, searching for something she needed.  
“Hell naw you ain’t. Bitch are you stupid?”  
“What do you mean?” She asked, caught off guard, still searching her house.  
“Yous just got out from the vamp’s headquarters and you want to go back in? To where they took Russell Edgington?”  
“To sign the peace treaty!” She confirmed.  
Lafayette scoffed loudly and got up, leaving the room for a moment. And it was just in time, as her fingers had found what she was looking for - the necromancer soul amulet. She was going to have to use it in case the Guardian wanted to play hardball. She stuck the little jewel in her jacket’s pocket and locked her house back up. Lafayette came back with a familiar deck of Tarot cards.  
“Oh come on! Lafayette, I told you divination is kind of bullshit,” Raven pleaded. He ignored her, sitting back down and shuffling the cards with the dexterity of a casino employee. He gave her the deck to knock. She hesitated but knocked on it anyway. He pulled five cards, making Raven’s eyes roll.  
“Death, upright. Justice, reverse. Wheel of Fortune, reverse. Hierophant, reverse. Eight of Swords, upright,” he read to her out loud, pouting and raising his brows in his best I told you so face. Raven shook her head laughing it off, playing with Lucifer in her lap.  
She knew what the cards meant: Death upright, end of a cycle. Justice upside down (reverse), dishonesty. Reverse wheel of fortune, no control or bad luck. Reverse hierophant, rebellion. Upright eight of swords, imprisonment or entrapment. It certainly didn’t look good.  
“So what? Harriet once told me I was going to die three times. Not only I have died a total of zero times so far, but have you ever heard of anyone dying three times?” She asked him. Lafayette gathered the cards and shuffled them again quickly. He leaned forward, motioning her to knock on them again. “Lafayette, you’re being ridiculous.”  
“Bitch you know I’m not,” he told her, dealing another five cards.  
Death, upright. Justice, reverse. Wheel of Fortune, reverse. Hierophant, reverse. Eight of Swords, upright. Raven sat a bit straighter. Okay, this is freaky. She never once saw anyone pull the exact same cards twice in a row. Maybe he just didn’t shuffle them right. Car lights approached outside, and a black tall van pulled into the driveway - her ride back to the Authority was here.  
“I’ll be okay, Lafayette,” Raven told him putting Lucifer down and getting up. “I was okay hunting down Russell Edgington, I’ll be okay going in to sign a paper. I’ll be back by sundown, I promise.”  
Lafayette stood up, defeated. Without a word, he gave her a tight, long hug. She didn’t know why, but this hug felt an awful lot like goodbye.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two chapters in one week? Is this a post-Christmas miracle? Why yes it is.  
This chapter was INCREDIBLY fun to write, and I hope you enjoyed it. Don't forget to kudo/bookmark and comment! See you next week


	8. Eight of Swords

During the car ride back to New Orleans, Bill and Eric fought and argued the entire time. They still hadn’t found their supposed leak. After dropping Raven off, Bill had returned to his house, and turned it upside down looking for bugs but found nothing. Eric swore he never mentioned Russell to anybody, Pam was innocent and Alcide was glamoured to forget the whole incident. It was an endless back and forth of accusations that were quite literally were boring Raven to death. They fought like brothers. She wondered if this is what she was missing out on having men in a coven. If so, she could only hope Jesus and Lafayette didn’t argue like this. When they arrived back in New Orleans, Raven was never so happy to get out of the van, even if it meant going back down into the Authority’s bunker. She was going to go in, write a contract, sign it and get out immediately. She missed her house, her bed, and her pig, her quiet little life. She hoped she could find her back to it. The warehouse was oddly quiet. They arrived in the Authority’s lobby, where it was vacant.   
“No welcoming party?” Asked Eric. “That can’t be good.”  
“At least it isn’t a firing squad,” Bill muttered.   
The guards lead them to the main hall, where loud music played. The Chancellors were all in the lounge, drinks in hand. All, except the weird child in the suit. Raven could instantly hear the ringing coming from the next room. Alexander Randall’s words still echoed in her head. It is our birthright to have it. Have what? What magical weapon could a vampire possibly use? Raven was so curious about it she had to bite her tongue not to ask what the hell they guarded in that room.   
“Congratulations!” Many of them cheered.   
“Hail the conquering heroes,” Salome said in her sultry warm voice. She placed a kiss on Bill’s and Eric’s cheeks before stopping in front of Raven. “And heroine,” she added just before she kissed her right on the lips. Her lips were full, soft and cold but still made Raven blush. She could feel Eric and Bill watching it. “Roman is very impressed,” Salome added after parting ways.  
The short vampire with the earpiece, Molly, approached Bill and Eric and took off their electronic staking devices. Raven could see the relief in their faces. The Authority was going to let them live after all.  
“Where is Roman?” Asked Raven right away.  
“He is drafting your contract I believe, he will join us shortly,” Salome told her with a sultry smile. Not shortly enough, Raven thought. She wanted to get the hell out of this dungeon, weapon be damned.  
“I still can’t believe you snagged that little psychopath alive,” said Rosalyn. “You boys have certainly won me over!”  
“Have we learned who released Russell from the ground?” Asked Bill in a serious tone.  
“Salome has been interviewing Russell, but he won’t talk," replied another Chancellor, an older man with a bony face and sandy grey hair.  
“He’s been a little tight-lipped,” Salome explained, pouring red champagne in flutes. “But we should know soon. Everyone cracks eventually. But for a moment at least, let’s celebrate!” She poured the red bubbly liquid in flutes and passed them around. Raven politely waived, denying whatever blood cocktail that was.  
“Would it be possible for me to speak with Chancellor Gainesborough?” Eric asked.  
The room fell silent, as the Chancellors traded looks. There was something wrong.   
“Chancellor Gainesborough has revealed herself to be a Sanguinista while you were gone,” Salome told him.  
Eric froze at the words. Raven expected Bill to laugh at the Viking, and brag I told you so, but he also stood quiet. Raven was actually not very surprised at the revelation. She had never met any vampire who talked or cared about Lilith as Nora did, so belonging to a religious vampire cult who worshipped Her wouldn’t be that far fetched. However, she still felt sorry for Eric, who had loyally defended his sister this entire time. Roman entered the room loudly, holding a large bottle of something that looked old and dusty.  
“My boys! My boys! I’m so glad you’re back! From here on out, officially known as the guys who took down Russell Edgington. Well done!” He exclaimed excitedly.  
Raven couldn’t help but roll her eyes. I’m standing right here you asshole. Why was it the credit for everything she’s done always went to Fuck Up One and Fuck Up Two?  
“That looks like quite a bottle of blood," Rosalyn almost drooled.  
“Why yes it is Rosalyn, it’s an 18th-century Austrian hemophiliac, not that I know too much about these fancy, antique bloods,” Eew. Raven had to forcefully not make a face of disgust. She wasn’t a vampire and even she knew that blood - unless magical - did not keep very well. Eric, Raven and Bill sat together on the couch, Salome sat on the couch's arm, right beside Bill. “All I know is that it costs a fucking fuckload of money. Sit everybody, sit. Let’s enjoy tonight.”   
“You two-”  
“Three,” interrupted Eric. Roman then took notice of Raven for the first time in the night.   
“We wouldn’t have been able to capture Russell Edgington if it weren’t for Raven,” added Bill, much for Raven’s surprise. Well, would you look at that?  
“Of course," he added. “You three have delivered a psychopath terrorist. Probably the greatest individual threat to vampire-human relations and Raven has done an incredible job of opening vampire-witch relations. And because of that, you three have saved many, many lives. So on behalf of all of us, cheers.”  
Everyone cheered, taking a sip of their blood drinks - all except Eric. “Well in all fairness Guardian, we didn’t really do anything except lead you to Russell,” Eric spoke in a serious tone.  
“Oh, no, no, no. You did exactly what I wanted. Now I know I can trust you,” Roman answered, still cheerful. “You do believe in coexistence with humans?”  
“Wholeheartedly,” said Bill immediately.  
Eric took a moment to answer, hesitating a tad too long. “There are certain humans I’ve felt protective towards...” Eric added.  
“But you don’t agree with the Sanguinista vision of morality endorses slavery, torture, and rape of those who delivered us into the life before death. Right?”  
Eric stared at Roman with the same look that he stared at Elijah. He took another moment before answering. “Well, I was never very religious, but as long as the affairs of humans do not personally impact me, I do remain a pacifist.”   
Roman chuckled. “You are just too cool to admit you believe in anything other than yourself,” he laughed some more before turning to Raven. “Miss Blackwood? What are your views?”  
“Humans haven’t been particularly kind to witches in the past, say, twelve hundred years, so… Same.”  
“If you excuse me,” said Salome standing up. “I should go back to interrogate Mr. Edgington.”  
“Be careful,” Eric warned. “He’s the strongest vampire I’ve ever met.”  
“Oh, he’s been heavily silvered intravenously. He’s quite impaired, trust me. Anyhow, I shall get going. Thank you again for what you’ve done. We will not forget.”  
“It was our duty,” Bill nodded.   
“Don’t bother, Salome,” Roman interrupted. “We are going to execute him.”  
Eric and Bill perked up at those words.  
“But-”  
“We’re at war,” Roman interrupted again. “Just because we have caught one very visible enemy, does not mean that the war is over. I do admit that I find a bit ironic that we, the proponents of coexistence, find it so difficult to coexist with our enemies. But the reason for that is simple: they are evil, cloaking themselves in Lilith to justify their sadism, their greed, their lust. Lilith herself was not evil.” Raven and Roman have clearly read the same book. “Exigist 4:19, and -”  
“And blessed be the children of men, for they are banished from the night without end. May Lilith’s blood save them,” continued Raven, much to everyone’s surprise. “The Book of Vampyr has many passages that overlap with our Book of Shadows.”  
“It makes me question why wizards and vampires were enemies for so long,” Roman pondered.  
“But Guardian,” whined Salome again. “He knows so much! And I agree, execution is warranted -”  
The lady doth protest too much, methinks.   
Roman raised his brows for a moment before rolling his eyes at Salome. “Why would we believe anything that he has to say anyway?” Salome had no answer to this. “He’s batshit crazy.”  
“Yes, Guardian.” Salome finally agreed.  
“In fact, I want to execute him tonight,” the whole room cheered. “Right now, actually. Salome, slap an iStake on him and bring him to me?”  
“Of course, Guardian,” Salome told him before she left the room.  
“Guardian, I request permission to visit Chancellor Gainesborough in her cell,” Eric whispered to Roman as he sat back down.   
“Why?” He asked.  
Eric took a second to answer. “She’s my sister," he confessed.  
Rosalyn gasped, the other Chancellors murmured. Bill shifted uncomfortably on the couch, away from Eric.   
“Sure,” Roman said in a serious tone. “But be back for Russell’s execution.”  
“Oh, I wouldn’t miss it,” Eric affirmed.  
Eric left the room without any more words. Roman’s eyes shifted to Raven.  
“Our lawyers are drafting the contract as we speak, it should be ready in an hour or so. Care to join us for the execution?” He asked as if he was inviting her to tea.   
“Sure,” Raven accepted begrudgingly. She naturally despised public executions, but Russell Edgington couldn’t be compared to witches. He was actually evil, and the world would indeed be better off without him.  
“So tell me, Raven, what do you think of the Book of Vampyr?” Roman asked, placing a cold hand on her thigh.

* * *

Eric entered the cell room and found Nora sitting on her knees, praying to the ceiling. It wasn’t until he got in front of her that he could make out what she was saying.  
“I swear fealty to the Blood and to the progenitor. The first, the last, the eternal. Lord and Lilith, Father and Mother, protect me as I protect you, from this day until the hour of the true death. I swear fealty to the Blood,” she repeated over and over, eyes closed, praying.  
He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. It had to be a mirage of some sort. His own sister should have known better than to become a blind follower of... Religion, or whatever the fuck this was. Who needed this shit? They were vampires for fucks sakes. They were always above humanity, society, laws. They answered to nobody. He heard grunts down the hallway. Two guards dragged Russell Edgington who weakly fought them, protesting all the way down the hallway. He was already wearing an iStake.  
“This is a crime against vampires!” He thundered, not to anyone in particular. “You have no right! I’ll make sure you all pay!”  
Salome followed the guards, but paused beside Eric, smiling at Nora. “Roman has decreed Rusell’s execution tonight,” she informed Nora before leaving the cells.  
The room fell quiet once again.  
“They are executing him tonight!” Nora repeated happily, looking at Eric.  
“Oh, so now you’re acknowledging me.”  
“It’s happening, Eric!” Nora shuddered with excitement. “It’s finally happening! After all this time!”  
Happy red tears ran down her face. She looked awful. Paler than usual, her hair was matted, her clothes were dirty with blood. Her eyes were wide and crazy. Did they torture her into insanity or had his sister officially drank the kool-aid? He still refused to believe that this was Nora. His sister had been so incredibly intelligent her whole life, and to watch her babble nonsense like this… It was pathetic. He was actually embarrassed for her.   
“What is happening?” He asked, desperately trying to find logic in her ramblings.   
“God’s plan! Made manifest by Her!” She looked up to the ceiling and raised her arms, palms facing up. “Oh thank you, Lilith! Thank you, She who transcends death!”  
Logic had left the building. Watching her behave like a total lunatic made thoughts race through his mind. Maybe she did betray him after all.  
“Nora, did you know where Russell was this entire time? Did you dig him up?” He asked anxiously.   
“No,” she said smiling. “It’s a miracle! Don’t you get it, Eric? It’s all part of Her plan! She’s been right this entire time! The warriors of Lilith have won!”  
“No Nora!” Eric yelled, punching the cell bars in rage, briefly burning himself. His sister flinched. “Snap out of this! All this praising and praying is beneath you. Godric would have been ashamed of you.”  
Nora shook her head in disapproval. She stood up, looking straight into his eyes. “Why is it Eric, that you accept Raven’s religion but not mine?”  
Eric was caught off guard. Raven was a Satanist, he knew that. He even guessed that she believed in Lilith too. But she never acted like this. Raven made logical decisions. She was always in charge of her choices, she never let fate into the hands of made up Gods who quite frankly, Eric doubted gave two fucks about what happened on earth. Without any more words, he walked away from Nora, leaving her alone in her cell. To rot, he hoped.

* * *

Russell Edgington was brought over by guards and put on his knees - just like Eric and Bill were nights ago. All the Chancellors and Raven stood around him in a circle, watching Roman pray before executing Russell, once and for all. Raven had to focus on the Guardian, but the ringing coming from behind the door vibrated louder than ever.   
“In the name of the Father and Mother,” Roman spoke facing the wooden doors.   
“In the name of my ass!” Retorted Russell, angrily.   
“God and Lilith,” Roman continued.  
“You think you’re any better than the Sanguinistas?” Russell asked loudly, making Roman turned around to face him. “You use Lilith to justify your bloodlust for power just like they do to justify their bloodlust for humans. You’re both fucking hypocrites! I’m the only honest one here. I wanna gorge on human blood, not because some fucking Bible tells me to, but because I fucking like it!” He spat. “I like it. It’s fun. It makes my dick hard!"  
Roman patted Russell’s fine brown hair as if he were a little kid. Salome handed him a cellphone, eagerly. “Are you done?” Roman asked annoyed.   
“You were a pompous, self-righteous prick in the Renaissance and you’re still one now,” Russell yelled. “This is all about your ego!”  
“THIS IS ABOUT ORDER, INSTEAD OF CHAOS!” Roman roared, raising a vein on his forehead. Even Russell bit his tongue. “This is about mercy instead of sadism,” his voice quieted down, regaining composure. “It’s about balance, peace.”  
Roman stepped away, holding the cellphone like a remote control. Everyone took a step back, getting away from the splash zone. The Guardian pressed the iStake button. He glanced at it one more time, pressing the button again. Nothing happened. Before Raven could even realize there was something wrong, Russell was standing up in front of Roman, holding his neck with both hands, his long fangs out.  
“Peace is for pussies!” Russell hissed as he tore Roman’s head off his body.   
The Guardian’s body and head exploded in a mist of red goo. Roman was dead.  
“Level 1 Protocol!” One of the Chancellors yelled.   
What followed was chaos. Emergency lights started flashing, loud sirens went off and Russell was a blur again. She felt Bill Compton grab her wrist and pull her behind him. The emergency lights flashed so brightly no one could barely stand to keep their eyes open. Some Chancellors tried to flee, others just fell onto the floor, trying to cover their eyes from the burning bright lights. Her eyes found Russell again, this time he was pinning Eric down on the floor.  
“Eric!” Raven yelled.  
“I don’t understand! Why didn’t the iStake work?” Cried Molly.  
“Eric, kill him!” Ordered Bill.  
“NO!” Salome cried. “Keep him alive!”  
What? Why? Raven thought. She could hear Russell and Eric struggling, Raven reached forward.  
“Apstergo!” She yelled. Russell was launched off Eric, about ten feet, hitting the floor hard.   
In the next moment, the room was flooded with armed guards. Bill and Raven stood still against a column, his hand still holding hers. There was a gunshot.  
“Prisoner secure!” A guard announced.   
The lights stopped flashing and sirens ceased. Russell was under a silver net, hands in the air, covered Roman’s blood. Eric got up, unscathed. The guards took Eric, Bill and Raven out of the room, and separated her from her friends, despite their protests. Raven could still hear the loud sirens echoing in her head, as her mind zoomed from the adrenaline. Roman was dead. Russell had almost escaped, again. There is absolutely no way there wasn’t a traitor in the midst. And she knew damn well who it was.

* * *

Raven’s heart was racing. The Guardian was dead. Guards locked her in her room “for her safety” but she knew that to be a lie, she was a prisoner again. She paced alone in her bedroom, thinking very carefully about what she was going to do next. Roman was dead and they never signed anything. Were there lawyers in the building at all? Would the vampires keep their word? Would the next Guardian honour Roman’s promise? Probably not. Especially when Raven suspected Nora was not the only Sanguinista Chancellor in the Authority. She had a strong suspicion that Salome was the puppet master behind all of this. The weird timing of their backup at the asylum, Salome being the only one to interrogate Russell. Her insistence on keeping him alive, even after he committed murder in front of the entire Authority. Raven reached in her jacket pocket and pulled out a necklace - necromancer amulet would be very useful after all, but there were only 2 souls in it which meant, theoretically - if it worked - she could only use it twice. Who would she even use it on? Salome? How would she even reach her without any of the other Chancellors knowing? Raven didn’t know, and she was starting to panic. She put the amulet on her neck like a necklace, leaving it accessible in case she needed it.   
Harriet’s tarot’s card came to mind. Lafayette told her this was going to happen. Alexander Randall told her this was going to happen. She wanted this contract so much that she turned a blind eye to all the signs that led her here. How could she not see this? Eric, that’s how. She’s been entranced in his blue eyes, his deep whispery voice, his touch, his promises that she’d be okay, that she stopped paying attention to the rabbit hole she was going into.   
The weapon.  
Whatever it was, she could use it to escape, or perhaps leverage her way out of here. Raven stopped pacing and gathered all the candles in the room she could find. She quickly put them in a circle on the stone floor, stepped into it and laid down. Raven was going to try astral projecting into the room. Astral projecting required focusing on the energy of somebody in order to send your soul to them. Whatever was in that room had enough energy to penetrate her own dreams, so she hoped she could use it instead. She whispered the words, trying to quiet her mind.“Astral me intrare, regni abeam qui vocas.” She focused on the wooden doors, picturing it in her mind.  
Instantly she felt her body weightless. Raven fell into oblivion, eyes closed. Butterflies took over her whole torso, loud wind rang in her ears. She visualized the runes on wooden doors in her mind, aiming to land on the other side. The falling stopped a second later and she could hear it - the loud, clear high pitched noise. Raven opened her eyes. It was a small room, adorned with columns and a shallow decorative pool in the center, with tiles above the water that lead from the door to the center island. She could hear the conversation behind the wooden doors behind her, but it was muffled by the ringing. In the middle of the room was a podium with a glass case sitting on top. Raven got closer to it. Inside the case was a crystal vial holding a dark red liquid - blood. The ringing was so loud now she could hear nothing else. She could feel the ringing all throughout her body, vibrating - even though her body wasn’t even there. It was an odd sensation, but it was comforting. She took a closer look at the case. It was adorned with a gold frame, old Hebrew words etched into it.   
In Her dark world stars will shine and shower us with light. Until she rises again.  
Raven read it again. It was a passage she read in the vampire bible, but she’s read it many times over in the Book of Shadows. In her Book, it was a passage about the children of Lilith: the first witch, the first vampire and the first werewolf, created over 5000 years ago. They were created to help mankind with the use of magic - forbidden by the angels. Vampires were healers, werewolves kept villages safe, witches offered spiritual guidance, and helped crops and harvests thrive. But as history repeated itself time and time again: humans cannot be helped. They are easily corrupted by power, greed, envy.   
In Her dark world stars will shine and shower us with light. Until she rises again. She looked at the crystal vial, crimson blood shining under all the golden light. The ringing was deafening. She had never seen anything like this, but yet she knew exactly what this weapon was. The Book of Vampyr mentioned the Guardian, and it wasn’t just a political position - like a Bishop or a Pope. The original Guardian’s purpose was to protect the light. She didn’t understand the exact meaning of the passage when she first read it, but she understood it now.  
The Authority wasn’t meant to rule all vampires, but it was meant to guard this small crystal urn. Guard it because it’s power was unfathomable. Thousands of vampires, wizards, even humans (if they understood what this was) would kill for it. This is why wizards and vampires were enemies. It wasn’t a weapon, it was God. Raven wondered if Alexander Randall knew all along what the Authority was hiding. She could feel her body being pulled by it, her soul being invited by it. She could feel Her power echoing through space. Raven wished her body was here so she could touch it. So she could in the presence of Lilith herself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Happy new year! I hope you are all doing well!
> 
> The story will start to divert from the original show quite a bit from now on. Black Moon Lilith will be a re-write up to a certain point, then I will be taking the reigns over (gasp).
> 
> Kudo and please comment!


	9. The Pawn

Eric, Bill and Raven were all arrested again. They took his witch somewhere else. Eric paced in his cell, irritated. He feared they were torturing Raven, his mind racing to the horrors they would be doing to her. He felt a gut-wrenching pain at the thought of her being hurt. He should have never let her come back here. Eric believed that Roman’s interest in Raven would keep her safe, but now that the guardian has been murdered, the authority would certainly point the finger to the witch first. Unless… He stared at Nora’s cell: it was empty.   
“Whoever it was, used us Eric,” lamented Bill their cell. “They used us to deliver Roman’s killer right where and when he needed to be.”  
“It had to be Nora,” Eric admitted. “It had to be her.”  
“You swore you didn’t tell her!” Bill argued.  
“I didn’t. But I was with her before Russell was executed. Nora knew what was coming. She knew, Bill.”  
“I don’t care how fucking old Russell Edgington is,” hissed Bill. “Pure silver coursing through his veins still should have had an effect on him. We all saw how fast he was on top of Roman,”  
“And on me,” Eric added. “There wasn’t any silver on his veins, Bill. If it weren’t for Raven getting him off of me, I’d be dead too.”  
“But what I don’t get is, Nora was locked up this whole time. There has to be more than one traitor.”  
Chancellor Kibwe entered the room and summoned Bill and Eric. Salome wanted to speak with them in her chambers. Of course she does. Guards unlocked their cell and escorted them down a level, to a room Eric remembered well. He could hear the door locking behind them.  
“Gentlemen,” Salome greeted them with her usual warm smile.  
Eric could see Nora standing with Salome and he felt his blood boil at the sight of them. It was them. This whole thing had been a coup, and Nora had betrayed him this entire time.  
“Brother, I-” Nora cried.  
“Go fuck yourself, Nora.” Eric interrupted her coldly. How did she dare call him that after what she’d done? He was so disappointed it disgusted him.  
Russell Edgington then entered the room from behind the bed’s canopy curtain in a jump, jazz hands out.   
“Surprise!” He laughed.  
He wore a fine sharp black suit and looked much more alive than usual. Bill’s and Eric’s fangs came out. Russell chuckled loudly. Salome let out a shy smile.   
“Fangs? Oh, you’re such boys! I’m not gonna hurt you!” Russell laughed again. “I just wanted to make an entrance, is all!”  
“Russell, enough,” Nora said rolling her eyes. First name basis with a fucking terrorist, are we Nora? He thought enraged.  
“Put your fangs away,” ordered Salome. “We’re all friends here.”  
“Like fuck we are!” Barked Bill.  
“Oh, I think we can be! I changed my tune, why can’t you change yours?” Russell said approaching the two vampires and looking up at Eric. “Here: you killed my Talbot, but I forgive you. Your turn, Northman.”  
“You slaughtered my entire family,” Eric said in more pain than he meant to show.  
“Oh come on! It’s olive branch time!” Russell laughed like it was all a big joke. “I’m making a real effort here, boys.”  
Bill and Eric put away their fangs, begrudgingly. Russell didn’t have to forgive anybody. He could just have them killed in an instant. Bill and Eric’s role in their little plan had been fulfilled, they were no longer of use to the new Authority.  
“Why should I believe you when no more than six hours ago-” Bill asked.  
“Tell me Northman,” Russell interrupted. “While we were having such a lovely and tender cuddle session on the Authority’s fine silk Isfahan rug before your friend Elvira pushed me off, did you wonder why I didn’t kill you?”  
“I’m still wondering, actually.”  
“It’s because I’ve been born again!” He paced around the room, walking back towards Salome. “Made again! In my new maker’s image!”  
“Your new maker. Of course.” Eric rolled his eyes. If he could still barf, he probably would have. Religion was like a pandemic, and Eric had no patience for it.  
“Oh, now brother, I-” Nora said softly.  
“Stop calling me that!” Eric roared. He looked at Nora’s eyes for the first time since entering the room. He got closer to her, towering over her. “You rescuing us from the Authority, and our getting caught… Everything was a fucking lie! You fucking lied to me!”  
“Yes!” She cried. “I’m really sorry okay? I knew about Russell! But that’s why I tried to save you, to keep you away from all of this! Only the witch was supposed to come.”  
“I dug Russell up,” confessed Salome. “I’ve been following him ever since he killed that news anchor on TV. Once I heard him speak… I just knew in my heart he was our way to Lilith. So when you buried him, I knew exactly where he was, I was just saving him for the right time.”  
“Why?” Asked Bill.  
“He was the only vampire strong enough to take Roman down.”  
“Power aside, you had unlimited access to the Guardian, and you are over twice his age. If you wanted him gone, why not get your own hands dirty for once?”  
“The Book is very clear on this,” she spoke seriously. “The Guardian’s blood is sacrosanct. He alone shall determine when his essence flows,” Nora and Russell nodded in agreement. “What happened tonight was inevitable, but I say this with the deepest regret.”  
“Bullshit!” Barked Bill. “You can’t play the grieving widow and the leader of a coup at the same time. I see you, all you want is power.”  
“No!” She protested. “I want to share it. With you, with Nora, Russell, Eric, with everyone. Too much vampire blood has been spilled in the singular pursuit of power. But why, when Lilith gives us so much of it to go around? There shall be no more Guardians.”  
“Join us, Eric.” Nora pled extending her hand but he recoiled not wanting to touch her. She gave him big puppy dog eyes. “Please?”  
“Never. You bible-banging cunts.” Eric told them cooly.  
“What about you, Mr. Compton?” Salome asked.  
“I still believe that without peaceful coexistence between our species, neither will survive. Mainstreaming is the only way.”   
This wasn’t what the three vampires wanted to hear. Nora begged Salome with her big blue eyes to give them another chance. No way in fucking hell. Eric had toed the line with the true death a lot lately, but it was getting increasingly difficult not to cross it.  
“Tomorrow there will be a ceremony,” Salome explained. “An initiation of sorts. I still would like you to participate.”  
“Thank you, Salome,” Nora said with a big relief. “For your tremendous mercy.”  
“Lilith has shown mercy. Tomorrow night, just after sunset.” Salome whispered, but Eric read the real tone.  
It wasn’t mercy. It wasn’t an invitation either. It was a threat: Join us or die the true death.

* * *

Eric waited for the guard to unlock his bedroom door, and once he stepped in he shut it right behind him. His whole body and blood went cold - colder than he already was - at the sight of Raven.  
The witch floated within a circle of candles on the floor as if she was suspended by an invisible string tied to her belly button. Her back was arched, her legs and arms limp, head tilted back, hair cascading, eyes were pitch black, lips parted open, barely breathing. She wore only her silk black dress, and only now he noticed she also wore a necklace with a green jewel pendant, one he had seen before, somewhere. He walked around the circle of candles, half curious, half horrified. And the more he looked at her face, those dark eyes, the more horrified he became. He reached forward slightly touching her hand, it was cold as if she were dead. Raven’s floating body felt empty. Where he usually felt her presence, he felt a vast, dark void. Her body was there, but she wasn’t. He didn’t understand how he knew this either which frightened him.  
A second later, her body descended and went softly numb on the stone floor as if she were sleeping. The candle lights went out and her blue eyes opened. Her heartbeat drummed strong again.  
“Eric!” She said with a relieved smile, getting up. Raven approached him, and he could feel her body heat as if everything was normal again. But it was far from normal. He took two steps back, avoiding her touch.  
“Where were you?” He asked point-blank.  
“Eric, I-”  
“I’m not as stupid as I look, where did you go Raven?!” He raised his voice, looking into her sad blue eyes. “Your body was empty,” he muttered.  
She paused for a moment, frowning. Please don’t lie to me. Not you.  
“I astral projected into the room off the Authority’s office, behind the wooden doors.”  
“What? For what?” He asked confused.  
“The ringing Eric, the one you heard in my dreams? I hear it whenever I’m close to those doors, and now I know why.”  
“Why?”  
“Lilith is in there!” She shouted, with a broken smile.  
He felt a huge lump on his throat. “No! Not this again, I can’t -” Eric cried, walking away.   
“But I saw her, Eric! It was incredible! I could feel Her all around me,” Raven had a twinkle in her eye that reminded him of Nora, which usually would be bittersweet under most circumstances. But right now, he was nothing but disgusted.  
“Lilith can suck my dick! I’ve had enough!” He roared.  
It was too painful to watch it happen all over again. Why is it Eric, that you accept Raven’s religion but not mine? Eric was angry. Angry at Nora for betraying him, angry at Salome for deceiving him, angry at Russell who wouldn’t die, and angry at Godric for dying too soon. Angry at himself. He was angry at Raven too, but couldn’t quite explain why. Raven stood there, frowning at what he just told her.   
“You don’t understand-”  
“You’re not to do magic in here.”  
“Excuse me?”  
“In fact, you aren’t allowed to do magic without asking me first.”  
“My God you sound like Bill. My contract is finished, remember? You can’t tell me what to do,” Raven scoffed, rolling her eyes.   
“I could easily forbid you from doing magic ever again,”  
She let out a cold laugh. “I’d like to see you try.”  
He ran to her, ending the distance between them. “Your contract with Bill may be done, but you are mine Raven Blackwood, and as long as I claim you, you do what I tell you!” He yelled.  
“Oh, so now the Book of Vampyr serves you? You can’t denounce Lilith but follow her rules, you can’t pick and choose!”  
“Then stop me,” he challenged her.  
“You are so full of shit Eric, it’s no wonder you didn’t see Nora for what she was!” Eric snapped and grabbed Raven’s arm, grunting and showing his long sharp fangs, pulling her closer. He could see her flinch in protest, but she continued. “Nora was a full-blown Lilith worshiping Sanguinista this whole time and you expect me to believe you didn’t see it? All the times she praised Lilith right in front of you. What the fuck did you think that was?!”  
“I expected my own sister not to betray me!”  
“And what exactly do you expect from me, huh?” She yelled. “To obey?!”  
“Yes,” he retorted angrily.  
“You want me to be your obedient,” she angrily pushed Eric on his chest, making him step back. He could feel static electricity in the air. “Servient, submissive, magical blood bag sex doll, like Sookie was?!”  
“Oh trust me, you’re no Sookie.” He said in a low voice.  
She pushed him further, he could see the hurt in her eyes. She breathed hard, hand hovering over her necklace. He could see her thinking, hesitating. He studied her posture, anticipating her next move. But all she did was let out an angry humph and left the room, going into the bathroom and slamming the door shut behind her. He knew there was no way for her to escape from there, or else she would have escaped already.  
Fuming, Eric flipped the couch, throwing it across the room, breaking its spine and arm off. Raven infuriated him. Nora infuriated him. Everyone had gone fucking insane and he was left behind. He felt alone. Truly alone. He glanced at the clock and it was already mid-morning. Defeated and exhausted, Eric decided to go to bed and hoped with every fibre of his being that it would be a dreamless sleep.

* * *

Raven found herself in a little charming farmhouse. It was a sunny hazy day, the bright morning sunlight showered the room in a pleasant light. Raven could hear birds singing outside. She looked around. She knew this place, but only in darkness. She walked through the empty first floor, exploring Sookie’s house. She made it to the upstairs and touched the first door she could find. She kinda knew what she was going to find, knowing whose dream this was. Probably Eric and Sookie fucking like Olympic athletes. Or maybe Eric and Nora? Or perhaps the three of them. But the house was quiet. She gently pushed the door open.  
Eric and Sookie snuggled under the covers of a big comfy bed, Sookie fast asleep on his bare chest. He stroked her blonde hair, gently. Her heart sunk a bit. I want you to track someone, his voice told her in a distant memory. Raven chose to ignore Sookie and Eric’s history until now. It was easy because she’s never seen it, only heard bits and pieces about it. She knew he loved her once. She saw how he looked at her, how comfortable their bodies embraced each other. Now she knew he loved her still. It was his dream after all. She took a step back into the hallway, creaking the floorboard.  
“Shh,” Eric shushed. “Don’t wake her up.” Eric finally looked at Raven, awkwardly standing by the door. “The dream always ends when she wakes up.”  
Raven stood there in silence, watching Eric stroke Sookie’s golden hair. The two of them no longer held a blood bond, but this was still his recurring dream. Enjoying a sunny day in bed with Sookie Stackhouse. It was certainly much more pleasant than hers and she hated it. She felt guilty for wanting to end it. Why does watching this hurt so much?  
“Eric, I need to tell you what’s going to happen next,” she whispered.  
“I don’t want to hear it, Raven. Not now,” he said quietly, not taking his eyes off Sookie.  
The blonde shifted, putting her tiny tanned arm across his torso, pulling in closer. Raven felt a knot on her throat. She felt a wave of sudden anger start to rise in her chest.  
“Lilith’s blood is too powerful to stay at the Authority, especially with the Guardian being dead, and-”  
“Oh, and it will be much better guarded by the Church of Night?” He asked bitterly, pissing her off.  
Raven slammed the bedroom door with all the strength she had, waking up Sookie with a jump. Suddenly the sun went out, the house disappeared and they were surrounded by the endless dark forest. Eric’s chest grew angry, his eyes looked at her coldly. They both could hear the ringing echoing through the trees.  
“Lilith is our creator! She created the first witch and vampire alike! You have no idea what kind of power the blood of a God holds! No one does!”  
“I know it has enough to make my own sister betray me and pull a fucking coup.”  
“A coup?” She asked raising her voice.   
The ringing got louder.  
“Salome and Nora. They broke Russell out, made sure he made his way into the Authority and let him kill Roman. We were all just pawns in their little game.”  
“Then this proves what I just said! The blood can’t stay with the Authority, it’s too powerful to stay in corrupted hands. Who knows what they’ll use it for.”  
“They want to drink it,” Eric told her. “Salome wants to share Lilith’s blood with all the Chancellors tomorrow night.”  
“No!” Raven trembled. “Eric, you can’t. You cannot take her blood, you could die! And our blood bond-”  
“I don’t have a choice!” Eric yelled.   
“You always have a choice!” She cried over the ringing which was now so loud she felt it vibrating in her bones.  
“And what do you know of choice?” He asked, walking around her. “All you do is run away and hide! You’ve been stuck in this forest this whole time because you’ve been hiding from the real world when you’re awake! And you want to lecture me about choice?”  
Raven felt a dagger hit her chest. “Running away? A bit rich coming from you.”  
“I don’t run away.”  
“And what do you call leaving Pam behind, mister Applebaulm?!”  
“I had to! The Authority-”  
“Fuck the Authority! And fuck the King too! Stop living your life by other people’s rules!” Raven screamed.  
“They took everything from me, Raven! They took a woman I loved, they took my freedom, they took my sister and at any moment they can take Pam too, and there’s nothing I can do to stop it! I don't have a choice! I have to drink the blood and -” He mouthed words, but she heard nothing over the maddening sound in the woods.   
The ringing, Lilith, was swallowing them both. Raven was afraid, heart beating fast. She looked at Eric, still passionately speaking words at her, inches away from her. She could tell he was scared too. If he drank Her blood… She didn’t know what would happen, that amount of power had no precedent in any book she’s ever read or heard of. He could very well die. Or he could become Her vessel. Until she rises again. Raven didn’t want to lose him, but she felt it was already too late. She felt like Eric was slipping through her fingers and there was nothing she could do to stop it. Raven wished she could stop the clock and just stay here forever if it meant keeping him safe. She felt her eyes warm up with tears. Never in her wildest dreams, she thought one day she would want to stay in these woods. Quickly she took a step forward and grabbed Eric’s face, pressing her lips against his. His cold arms wrapped around her, and he kissed her back, giving himself in deeply and without hesitation.   
The forest went silent.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!
> 
> A short but not so sweet chapter :( Next chapter should be up early next week!   
As always, let me know your thoughts in the comments!


	10. The Gift

Both Eric and Bill showed up to the initiation the next night. Raven didn't come out of the bathroom all day. Before he left, he peeked in. She was wrapped in a bunch of towels sleeping on the bathroom floor. He left without any more words, heart aching. He questioned if he should wake her, but decided not to. It was better this way, with no goodbye. Now he stood with all the other Chancellors in the little room off the main hall, behind the two wooden doors, that Eric never paid any attention to until now. Salome, Nora, Russell, Bill, Kibwe, Rosalyn, Dieter and for some fucking reason, Steve Newlin. Ironically, the dipshit was now a vampire and was now the AVL spokesperson. It was impressive they found someone even more unlikable than Nan Flanagan to fill the position. The room was small, with a shallow pool in it and a podium in the center, holding a crystal vial full of blood.

"The Book tells us that to stake a Guardian is to turn your back on Lilith herself. But what to do… When that Guardian has already turned his back on her?" Preached Salome. "I believe Lilith forgives Russell for what he's done." All the Chancellors gave her odd looks "And so, I do too."

"Thank you, Salome," Russell said happily. What a bunch of bullshit. "I want everyone here to know just how awful I feel. Not so much about Roman, that was for the greater good. But for what I said about Lilith. I universally disavow myself from my statements. I love Lilith. Praiser her!"

"Praise Her!" Nora repeated passionately. This only made Eric want to punch her in the face.

"Praise Lilith!" Repeated all the other Chancellors, some more enthusiastically than others.

"How many times over the past decades have you heard Guardian Zimojic imply that we owed our very existence to humans, that we evolved from them? We didn't!" Nora explained. "We did not evolve from humans, we were created by Lilith!"

Salome approached the podium in the middle of the room and opened the glass case. She carefully took the vial from the case.

"Roman believed that this blood, Her blood, the blood this very Authority was created to protect, was merely symbolic. It is not symbolic! The Book tells us Lilith met the sun by the hand of a man, and that her progeny collected her remains and placed it in this jar. This jar that Salome holds right now. It is the blood of Lilith."

Eric's stomach dropped. He heard those words before, from Raven. She had told him the same thing twelve hours before. How did she know from just looking at it?

"I can assure you nothing about this is symbolic," continued Nora. "Whatever doubts any of you have, it will be erased," she said, looking straight at him.

"Tonight, everyone in this room will drink from Her. This... Is the greatest gift that has ever existed on earth." Salome told the room, raising the vial closer to the light.

Eric shifted uncomfortably. There was something creepy about the dark blood. It just felt like something he wasn't supposed to drink. He had learned drinking blood of magical creatures could have dire consequences.

"This… Is blasphemy," Dieter spoke in disgust. "Who are you, to offer the blood of Lilith?"

Russell lunged forward and slapped Dieter's face so hard his head detached from his body. It and flew across the room, spraying blood on the wall like a Jackson Pollock painting. His body disintegrated into a liquid, spilling down on the fountain, turning the pool in the room a bright shade of red. Rosalyn gasped, horrified. No one else said a word.

"May Lilith forgive me," said Russell calmly.

"She does," affirmed Nora. "Anyone else?"

Join us or die.

"We are of Lilith, Lilith is of God," Salome said as she opened the vial. "May She reveal Herself to us tonight."

Salome took a tiny sip of the vial. She swallowed it slowly. She trembled in nervousness but was otherwise still in one piece. She passed the vial to Nora, who then drank it. He thought about Raven's warning while he watched Nora drink the liquid. She was fine. He knew Raven could feel and hear the blood in the crystal, but she wasn't a vampire, she was a witch. All magic attracted her. His blood attracted her. Even if this was thousands of years old Lilith muck, Eric was still skeptical. This was nothing more than a religious version of a bunch of conservatives passing a joint for the first time.

"Are we really gonna do this?" Bill whispered to Eric.

"Lilith was the first vampire, so it's vampire blood. We are vampires. Nothing will happen," he whispered back.

* * *

Raven woke up with a gasp as if she was drowning in icy arctic water. She was cold and shivering. There was something seriously wrong, something that disturbed every fibre of her being. She ran out of the bathroom just to find an empty bedroom. Eric. She no longer felt their bond. It was done. He was lost.

"That dumb motherfucker," she muttered angrily. He had drunk Lilith's blood. "How could he be this stupid!?"

She had no time to grieve, she jumped straight into anger. She noticed the living room had a new velvet couch - bright red, and on the coffee table was a spread of food and drinks. Starving, Raven inhaled it, mind racing on what to do next. Eric was gone. He left her behind, just like he left Pam. Raven had to get out. Her first instinct was to get help? But from who? Randall and her father were out of the question. Not much Lafayette, Jesus or Holly could either. Perhaps Pam? She would come for Eric, but she had no idea where he was, or if he was even alive. Instead of panic, she felt a wave of anger hit her. She had to get out and get out now.

She stood up and rushed to the bathtub, turning the tap on full blast. She ran to the bathroom where she also turned on the tap and the shower, shoving towels on the drain. Back in the bedroom Raven torn the sheets apart, turning them into a pile of long cloth strings. She arranged them in the middle of the room, and with her Punctum ring, she cut her left forearm.

"Armati cum et ipsum, vestem et maledixisset," she muttered, drawing the Fourth Pentacle of Saturn on the stone floor around the pile of fabric with her blood. "Et ingredietur quasi aqua in viscera eius, et quasi oleum in ossa eius."

The dark sheets turned into dozens of long glistening snakes, slithering across the stone floor.

"Ut hac oblatióne, et benedicat mihi serpentibus perierunt!"

They headed towards the door and slid under it, disappearing into the hallway. She looked at the bathroom and she could see water entering the bedroom. The tub was still only half full.

"Come on, come on…" She whispered, standing in the middle of the room, facing the door, heart pounding in her chest, adrenaline running high.

She heard screams outside and she couldn't help but smile. Moments after the door of her room opened and guards entered, alarmed.

"Veniam peto te, ut vires mihi aquam!"

A wave of water shot across the room, hitting the guards in full blast back into the hallway. She sprinted for the door, escaping. There were puddles of blood outside her bedroom, being washed with water. A guard was writhing on the floor, covered in dark long snakes, fighting them in vain.

"Serpens, occidere eum," she ordered. A snake slid down into his mouth, choking him. The snake bit into the man's heart from the inside, instantly killing him. Raven ordered her enchanted sheets to scatter and kill all the guards on this floor. She continued running down the hallway, towards the staircase that led to the upper level.

She sneaked upstairs, hearing guards yelp and choke in the distance. She ran as quietly as she could around the maze of hallways and rooms the Authority's bunker was. She bumped into another guard when running around a corner. She covered his mouth with her hand looked deeply into his eyes.

"Nunc somnum," she whispered, as the guard's body loosened and fell onto the floor, asleep.

She reached the reception, and with confidence, she just walked across. Heads turned around in confusion as the employees realized she was not supposed to be walking around unaccompanied.

"Hey!" The receptionist yelled from behind her desk, but Raven speed-walked right past her and into the main room, which was empty. "You aren't supposed to go in there!" Her distant voice called.

Raven walked straight towards the double doors. She opened them both wide and entered the sacred room again - but also for the first time. Raven looked at the glass case.

"No!" She whispered desperately. The case was empty. No vial. No weapon. No Lilith.

"Hey, you!" A guard called from the main room. "You are supposed to be in lockdown!"

"Apstergo!" She called out reaching towards the guard, who was launched across the room and landed on the other side of the conference table.

Raven made a dash for the reception, towards the elevator. She pressed the button frantically.

"What are you doing?!" Asked the receptionist in a frown, standing up behind her desk. She could see the woman's eye and arm reach for something on her desk.

"Obstupefacio!" Raven commanded, making the woman freeze in place. She didn't feel the vampire push back - she wasn't strong like Russell.

"Occludo!" She waved at the room and all doors closed shut.

She turned back to the elevator doors, pressing the button frantically but nothing was happening. She held the button for a couple of seconds, and she heard something. A slot opened and a little tray came out. She saw Salome do this the first time they came to the Authority. It was blood locked with technology.

"Fuck!" She yelled, punching the tray, breaking it.

She could hear loud voices on the other side of the doors, and people trying to pry them open. The spell wasn't going to hold much longer. She placed both hands on the elevator doors and closed her eyes.

"Vulpes corvum videt oculus," A loud noise came from her right, guards had broken the door. "Recludo."

She opened her eyes and found the reception was being inundated with the Authority as her previous spell broke. She felt the elevator doors open. Raven was about to step into it, but it was also filled with guards pointing guns right at her head.

"Stop right there!" A man demanded.

She raised her hands in the air, taking a few steps back. There were guards surrounding her. Before she could manifest any more spells, she felt a familiar cold metallic chain snap around her neck from behind.

Her power ceased before she could cast any curses.

* * *

Eric could feel, hear and see everything. He could hear thunder miles away, he could see so many stars in the sky it almost felt like daylight. He could feel the universe expanding. He felt warm and alive, intoxicated. He could feel Lilith running through his veins, awakening parts of him he didn't even know he had.

Each note of the street brass band played tingled through his skin as he danced with Nora in the middle of a crowded street. He never felt so much joy in his entire life. The street was theirs, this party was theirs, the whole world belonged to them. Nora laughed. Her laughter was so sexy he could barely keep his hands off of her. It had been way too long since they fucked and he missed her. He missed her taste, her smell, her skin on his.

He saw his friends entering a bar ahead, and he lazily followed them. It was some kind of private party, with a blonde singing some sappy song on the stage. Suddenly Russell stepped into the light with her and joined her song. Eric had never seen anything so fucking funny, he had to actually concentrate not to cackle in the middle of the bar. The humans at the bar shifted in the chairs confused, which only made it funnier. Nora was already giggling beside him. Suddenly all the singing came to a halt when a blonde woman stood up and screamed from the bar.

"Oh sweetheart, what's wrong?" Russell asked into the microphone.

"It's that vampire! Russell Edgington!" She shrieked.

The humans all stood up in a panic, but Eric watched Salome lock the door behind them after they entered. Russell had locked the door in the back. Everyone started screaming, and suddenly Eric got so hungry it ached. He was as hungry as he was when he had first turned. It was a hunger that consumed him inside and out. Eric and his friends feast like Kings and Queens. Because they were Kings and Queens. After draining his third or fourth human (he lost count) Eric heard a deep grumble. His mouth let go of the blonde in red who tasted a tad too much like painkillers, to see light coming from a puddle of bright blood by the stage. Nora, Bill, Salome and the other Chancellors noticed it too, letting go of their meals. A womanly figure raised from the puddle. Her skin was covered in blood, her black hair was slicked back. Her eyes were red, just like the rest of the room. Eric swore the woman was Raven for a brief second. But it wasn't quite her, she looked like she could be...

"Impossible," he whispered to himself.

"It's Lilith!" Marvelled Salome.

The woman looked at the vampires pleased. They marvelled at Her. It was their God, standing there in the flesh. Lilith let out a high pitched shriek revealing a pair of long, sharp fangs. The sound was unlike any noise he had ever heard before. The ringing vibrated through his body, consuming him a blind bloodthirst he never felt before. All the other Chancellors sunk their teeth further into their meals, some even tearing skin and muscle to reach deeper.

Not fighting the urge to drink more, Eric sunk his fangs back into the woman he was drinking from, trying to reach further into her body. He felt desperate for more like nothing else mattered but to gorge himself in this stranger. Taking her life inside of him felt undeniably right.

"I taught you better than this." a familiar boyish voice said in Old Norse.

Eric felt a cold rush all over his body. He quickly let go of the woman, only to find Godric sitting in the booth in front of him. He looked exactly the same, wearing white, a tattoo peeking from his collar, messy brown hair, kind brown eyes.

"You know this is wrong," Godric told him. Eric could not speak words. He could not believe his eyes. "You should have listened to Raven, my son."

"Raven?" Eric repeated confused.

"Witches will always tell you what you don't want to hear. Unlike Her." Godric nodded at Lilith, who caressed Nora's head while she tore a man apart, limb from limb, trying to suck blood from muscles and organs. "Lilith birthed children to help humans through dark magic. But humans turned on them and have been killing her children for thousands of years. Lilith now despises them. She will tell you what you want to hear in order for you to do Her bidding. This path will lead you and your sister to the destruction of everything that is good."

Eric was speechless. He looked at the others in the bar, now fighting over organs. The humans were nothing but torn to pieces of flesh and bones. It was abhorrent. There was so much blood everywhere it made Eric sick. The sight of Lilith was

"Find Raven. Save your sister." Godric ordered, before disappearing.

* * *

The spell had been broken. Eric stood in the back of the elevator with all the other Chancellors, who laughed and screamed, covered in blood. They all wore party hats and bead necklaces and talked over each other like drunk college kids. Once out of the elevator they headed to the main room. There was a tray on the table with neatly folded hot towels. He grabbed one and cleaned his face, neck and hands of blood. They had spilled so much fucking blood. He watched Nora and Salome making out on the couch as Bill watched delighted. The other Chancellors danced around and admired all the shiny decorations of the lobby. Find Raven, Godric commanded. He wanted to go back to his room and see his witch. And most importantly - start formulating a plan. There was only one way of ending this madness, and it would be killing everyone in this room, with the exception of Bill and Nora. Eric tapped Bill on the shoulder, who laid on the couch, watching Salome and Nora.

"I think I've had enough fun for one night," Eric told him. "You coming?"

Bill nodded no and his gaze went back to Salome and Nora, whose clothes were coming off. Eric turned on his heels and Russell Edgington stood right in front of him. He wore a stupid purple top hat and a dumb smile on his face. He never wanted to punch someone in the face so much as right now.

"Unbelievable!" Russell cried. "I mean, I have never… I am speechless!"

"She was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen in 500 years!" Affirmed Kibwe.

"I never truly believed… Until now!" Confessed Rosalyn.

"And with all due respect, may I say," continued Russell. "God has the most beautiful tits!" They all laughed. "Now, I've never been called devout, but watching Lilith shoot up from a blood pool while sucking down a bride in the middle of her bachelorette party… Praise fucking Lilith! I am born again motherfuckers!"

They all laughed again.

"You know who she reminds me of?" Asked Steven Newlin. Don't say it. "The witch!"

Shit.

"Oh, I'm glad I'm not the only one!" Laughed Rosalyn. "I thought the bitch came to curse us for a hot minute!"

A guard quietly walked in and walked nervously towards Salome. He leaned in and whispered something that made her push Nora off her lap. Salome frowned angrily, while Nora hopped off the couch in excitement.

"Tonight was a sign!" Nora shouted, almost falling over like a drunk. "Roman's death was sanctioned by God Herself, and we are on the correct path! Her path!"

They all praised again. This was starting to bore him to death.

"I could have a snack. Could you use a snack, my dear Eric?" Russell asked way too loud for someone who was standing so close.

"I've had enough," Eric told him cooly, trying to pass Russell and go straight back to Raven. "I think I'm going to retire for the evening."

"Hm, how about that tasty little witch that we got locked up somewhere, huh? She smelled divine-"

Eric broke an armchair's leg and lunged at Russell, who in turn couldn't finish his sentence because Eric had grabbed him by the throat with his other hand. He choked him with only half of his hatred for the son of a bitch, and poked the broken wooden leg on his chest, drawing blood through his shirt. Russell still had a smug look on his face as if this were all a big joke. He knew he had hit a nerve. Everyone had stopped fucking around and watched them, with their fangs out.

"Eric!" Cried Nora running to his side. "Let him go!" She ordered.

"No one touches Raven!" Eric yelled, his body vibrating with anger. "She is mine!"

"Oh come on! Don't you keep all the magic blood to yourself!" Russell pleased with a perverted smile.

This made everyone jitter at the thought of more special blood. They were addicted.

"Oooh, a witch's blood! I wonder what that does!?" Steve Newlin said excitedly.

"Oh come on Northman, don't be stingy. We won't kill her!" Rosalyn pleaded.

"Actually, we will," Salome said coldly, wiping blood off her neck with a hot towel. Eric let Russell go and he faced Salome, ready to put the wooden stake through her heart. "Your little pet tried to escape this evening. She killed several guards, unleashed pests and caused mayhem and destruction on the lower levels."

"Raven doesn't take kindly to being a prisoner," Eric told her, giving Bill a glance. "She was promised a peace treaty, she fulfilled her end of the deal and instead you lied to her and locked her up."

Salome looked deeply in his eyes with a thinly veiled rage. Eric was done with her and her little games.

"Killing her would be an abomination," declared Bill. "Witches are our sisters, they are Lilith's creation as much as we are!"

The room fell quiet again. "Bill is right," Nora told them. "Witches and warlocks are our siblings, it would be a disservice to Lilith to harm them. Plus Eric has laid claim on her, it is up to him how and if he punishes her," Nora warned him.

Not that she actually accepted being claimed, Eric lamented in his head.

"Guards!" Ordered Salome. Eric still held the stake tightly in his hand and started to worry about what she might say next. He wondered if killing Salome Agrippa would even come close to redeeming himself in this world. "Bring in a dozen humans for a last meal before daybreak. And Eric," No one dared to breathe for a long moment. "Deal with her before I do."

He dropped both the wooden stake and retracted his fangs, relieved. Eric looked at Nora, who looked at him with sadness and disappointment. Without any more words, he left the room. He was thankful no one followed, even Bill. Eric felt torn. How was he supposed to save Nora? She was like a completely different person now. Eric didn't even know if the daughter Godric knew even existed anymore. He didn't even recognize Bill Compton either, but he was lucky his newfound religion played on Eric's favour. A stroke of luck that surely wouldn't repeat itself. He walked fast down the Authority's labyrinth, filled with eagerness. A guard showed him the way to a different room, leading him past the hallway his room used to be. The passageway was a mess: the floor was covered in water and blood, paintings were torn, vases were broken, and there were strips of fabric scattered. He could only imagine what Raven did down here. He passed more guards - more than he had ever seen down here. This bunker was filled with strangers but at least he did know someone here. It was, in fact, the only person left on earth that he felt he knew and trusted. And she wasn't a vampire.

* * *

Raven laid in bed because she was tired of pacing around the room. Her fingers traced the scab on the forearm from the cut she did earlier. She was exhausted. She used so much magic trying to break out of here that she felt depleted, and the iron collar on her neck prevented her from recuperating. That and the fact that having to sleep during the day and stay awake at night, and only having one meal a day was breaking her down. She had been in the same clothes for days now. Her mind raced in circles not letting her body sleep. She felt the walls closing in. The skin on her neck felt itchy and irritated. Raven was locked in a new bedroom. She was mad at the Authority for lying to her - there never was a contract, they lied about the whole thing. Raven felt incredibly mad herself for being so stupid. Of course, they would have locked the only exit. She should have listened to Lafayette and never stepped back into this forsaken dungeon. All she wanted was to keep her family safe, and instead, she was probably going to die. If not eaten or starved, maybe of boredom. She had to figure out a way to get this collar off, and then how to get out.

Fighting her way out did not work. She could hear way more guards walking down the hallways. Plus the elevator was the only way in or out of this place. Perhaps she could teleport up to the ground. She tried to estimate how far deep the bunker was by using the timing of the elevator. Last time she was in it, the ride was 12 seconds give or take. But without knowing exactly how fast it was going, it was impossible to calculate how far underground they were. If she shot too high, she would appear in mid-air above the warehouse and die splattered on the warehouse's roof. Shoot too low and she would be spliced by the building itself or be buried alive in the soil between here and ground.

She heavily considered astral projecting to her father, but Elijah was a Grand conjurer. He probably placed protective wards and anti-spirit spells for miles around his house. It would take her a long time to reach him which waS extremely dangerous. Stay in the astral plane for too long, and she would never find her way back to her body. Asking help from her coven would only put them in harm's way, and keeping them safe was why she was stuck here in the first place. Raven didn't trust Alexander Randall whatsoever, even hinting what the weapon the Authority held - that is, if he didn't know it already - would be catastrophic. He could also read minds, so he could extract that information without her even knowing. So she was left with only one choice: wait for Eric to come back.

A little voice in her head told her he wasn't ever coming back. He was just another name on the long list of people she had lost. Her mind kept replaying his dream. The scene of Eric in bed with Sookie. His fingers stroking her blonde hair. She felt a pit of envy in her stomach. Raven liked other people before, but she couldn't recall ever being looked at the way Eric looked at Sookie. She could not recall embracing someone peacefully and genuinely as Sookie did. With so much care, passion and… Love. It was just a dream, it was just wishful thinking, she told herself. But a little part of her she wished it was her in that bed, not Sookie Stackhouse.

Suddenly she heard the door unlock and she sat up at once. No one other than Eric Northman entered and she found herself breathing again. He was alive. He came back. Everything stood still. The earth didn't dare move. Eric frowned at her, looking at her collar. She felt her body get hot. His face gave away that he knew what she had done, and expected him to be angry and lash out at her for doing magic, despite his attempt at forbidding it. But she didn't care, she was glad to see him all in one piece. His shirt was soaked in blood - and something told her it wasn't his - but otherwise he was okay. His eyes locked with hers and he ran to her, suddenly standing at the edge of the bed. He looked at her differently.

"Eric, are you okay?" She asked.

His fangs came down, and his cold right hand grabbed her forearm. She flinched and trying to pull her arm back, but he held on tighter. She wasn't going to accept being punished for doing magic to free herself from this place. "Eric, let me go right now!" She ordered, standing up. Eric brought his left index finger up to his mouth and nicked the tip of his fangs. With his bloody finger, he traced the cut on her arm which instantly healed, and he retracted his fangs. "Oh... Thank you," she whispered shyly.

They stood there for a moment, in silence, looking at each other. There was something about how he looked at her. Like he enjoyed the fact that she was there. Eric still loosely holding her hand, touching the sensitive part of her wrist. She had to suppress a shiver.

"Godric told me to find you," he told her almost whispering, his fingers caressed her inner palm.

Raven felt suddenly hot. "What do you mean, Godric told you?"

"I saw him, right after I saw Lilith."

"That's impossible," Raven gasped. "Godric's body burned when he met the sun, his spirit can't - wait, you saw Lilith?!"

His cold hands grabbed the iron collar, and once again he ripped them off her neck, but she barely noticed since her mind was running in circles with questions and quite frankly, fear. Until she rises again. How could he have seen Godric? Is that what Lilith's blood does? Taking Her allows you to see the other side, being all magic principles? He dropped the distorted metal piece on the floor and cupped her cheeks. His blue eyes looked deep in hers. "Raven you are the only person left that I trust. You are my only friend, do you understand?"

Raven's racing mind came to a complete standstill, Eric was so close, his whole body hard pressing against hers.

"Well... I don't want you to be your friend," she told him with a smile curling on her lip. Eric pulled Raven in and kissed her.

She kissed him back eagerly. The scruff of his beard rubbed against her skin, but she wanted more. His tongue moved in between her lips, dominating and relentless. She could feel his arms embracing her, his cold fingers touching the skin on her back. He gently pulled her dress straps away, and her satin dress slipped straight to the floor. She pushed his jacket off his body, and without any resistance, Eric undressed himself.

She gave him a slight push onto the bed and he sat at once, looking up at her with the hungry eyes that she so loved. Raven lowered herself to the edge of the bed, getting down on her knees. Her hands ran up his thighs while she briefly admired his cock. He was already hard, ready to take her. Without waiting any longer, she licked it from base to tip before taking all of him in her mouth. His cock was certainly proportionate to the rest of his body. Eric let out a deep moan, and his fingers travelled through her hair. She let her tongue massage all of him, wetting all of it, making him eager for more. The way Eric moaned, shifted his hips and softly called out her name made her wet, her body wanted him. Her mouth let him go, she stood up and straddled him on the soft bed.

Eric kissed her again. His arms wrapped around her, his mouth trailed down her neck.

"No biting," she warned him, just like last time.

"One day," he whispered between kisses on her skin. "You're going to beg me to."

Not if I make you beg first. She reached down and gently grabbed his cock and rubbed it against the wetness between her legs, all the way up to her clit. He moaned louder, barely making out her name. Eager to have her, he slipped his cock inside her, as his hands moved down firmly guiding her hips lower, tight against his hip. Her hands squeezed his shoulders, feeling a shiver of pleasure go up her spine. She sat still for a moment, taking in the feeling of his cock filling her full.

His hands squeezed the softness of her hips and moved them back and forward as he pleased. She took over and rode him, feeling lust take over her body like a warm ocean wave. Her body ached for more, like the relief of scratching a deep itch. She craved him like he was a piece of her that was missing, and having him in her made her whole. She rolled her hips harder, taking every inch of his cock inside her, lust growing. He kissed her neck harder, grazing his teeth on her skin. His hands travelled all the curves of her body, leaving her skin hot and burning at his touch. His thumb slid down between her legs and applied pressure on the right spot, driving her closer to the edge. She moved up and down his cock, taking all she could. She could feel her breasts bouncing and Eric's eyes watched her intensely, a small grin on his face, taking all of her. She could feel his eyes pin on her neck, his lips parted slightly, showing his fangs. His lust for her brought out his thirst too. Fucking her was not enough. Eric craved all of her. She could see the hesitation, his desire to drink her, to own her, to be bound to her body again. He was too proud to ask for it. But yet, he didn't take it, as she forbid him. She powered her ring, growing her index fingernail into a sharp point. She ever so carefully nicked her skin just above her left collarbone. His eyes grew hungry at the sight of the thin red line going down her chest. His tongue traced her skin, tasting every drop. The next second his sharp fangs grazed her neck, sending a chill down her body. She suddenly craved the hurt. His arms held her tight against his body, and she hugged him back.

His lips touched her earlobes, and all she could hear was his uneven breathing and moaning until he whispered. "Your turn to be bound to me,"

He kissed her deeply, and all she could taste was his blood on his tongue. He nicked his own tongue with his fangs, and her body took every drop before it healed a moment later. All her fear melted away. It didn't matter where she was anymore. Despite Eric drinking God's blood, he chose Raven. He chose their bond. He chose her even knowing what the consequences were. Raven felt a different bond to Eric this time. She didn't know what it was exactly, but she knew one thing:

Not even Lilith could keep them apart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright alright alright
> 
> Finally nailed the sex scene, I think (pun intended). But I don't know, you tell me, I never wrote smut before lmao
> 
> Hope you all are still enjoying the story, subscribe/kudo, leave a comment below and see you next weeeeeek bye


	11. The Mother

Eric left their room a bit before sunset. Raven wasn't too happy about staying behind locked in the bedroom alone again. It hurt him to see her not having the energy to fight him back on it, but it was better if he did this alone. Eric was going to tell Salome he was going to take Raven home safely, as it was the very least the Authority could do for the treason they committed to their so-called "brothers and sisters". Unless they wanted Bishops and High Warlocks knocking down on their door, delivering Raven home would be the best course of action. Eric hoped to bring Nora and Bill as well, and hopefully put some reason in their stupid little brains.

He arrived in the empty main hall where the wooden double doors were open. Only Nora was there, worshipping the blood-filled vial in its glistening crystal case. He approached his sister, who swayed back and forth on her knees, praying. Nora heard his footsteps and glanced back at him. Her face illuminated with a big smile. "Brother!" she called happily, running to him.

He hugged her tightly, kissing the top of her head. He held her for a moment, knowing it would possibly be the last time he did so. "This isn't you, Nora," he whispered in her ear. "This is all insane."

"Insane?" She asked, pulling away in a frown.

"Nora, I have loved you for almost 600 years," he told her, holding her face.

"And I have loved you!" She cried, looking up at him with her ocean eyes.

"But this place, all of this," Eric pointed at Lilith's blood. "And all of this," he pointed at the Authority's room. "It's has clouded your mind."

"Eric, Lilith blesses this place."

"Lilith doesn't exist," he told her annoyed. "Salome chose this path for you. This has all been an intricate game of chess and we were all her pawns, you included."

"Eric, Lilith does exist. You saw Her! You were there!"

"Yeah and so was Godric," he watched her smile fade away. "And it sickened him."

"Godric?" She repeated scared, stepping away.

"Yes. The night he turned you… The night he made us a family… He made me swear to always protect you. And last night he reminded me of that promise."

Nora stared at him biting her lips, disappointed. She paced around the room. "Eric, we both loved Godric. He gave us the most magnificent gift. And when he made us, he was the purest vampire I have ever known," she explained. "Salome's strength and vision would have delighted him."

"It doesn't, he hates it."

"Well, it's not Salome who's wrong!" She barked defensively. "You remember when Godric lost his way! It was that bloody witch! He fell for her, and their love poisoned him. The Godric you say you saw last night was a perversion!"

He felt a cold stabbing in his heart. "How can you say that?!" He cried.

"Because it's true!" She yelled. "In his final days, Godric was a blasphemer! A weak, disgusting apologist whom Lilith herself would have been overjoyed to stake. And if you keep Raven around the same will happen to you!"

He felt his blood boil in rage. How could she say that about their father? "What's happened to you?" He hissed in anger.

"Fuck Godric." She hissed back.

At this Eric lunged at her and grabbed her by the throat. She squirmed in anger, grabbing his hand but he was twice her age and twice as strong. He felt blinding rage and wanted to rip her head off at the words she had spoken. How could she betray Godric like this? He loved her more than anything. And for that reason, he let her go. Godric would not have been happy if he harmed his sister. Nora gasped for air, relieved he let her go. Eric turned away, to hide the tears that were flooding his eyes. He was trying to save someone he had lost already. He had failed. He had disappointed Godric. Nora approached him and reached for his face, wiping a tear away.

"Lilith will show you the path. You'll see."

"Lilith has shown me and I don't want it,"

"You want it when Raven is in it," she told him stepping back.

"What's that supposed to mean?" He glanced at her.

"You know exactly what I mean big brother," Nora told him with angry sparks in her eyes.

Eric's heart sunk down to his stomach. What the hell did Raven had to do with any of this? Was she implying Raven would convert him? Had she lost her mind? Well, yeah. He was about to follow his sister when Bill Compton, Russell, Salome and all the other Chancellors entered the room and took their places around the conference table, making small talk. Nora joined them. Still shattered by Nora's hurtful words, Eric tried to pull himself together before entering the main room.

"Mr. Northman," Salome called. "Did you deal with Miss Blackwood?"

"Yes, she is dealt with," he affirmed seriously, suppressing a smirk.

"Then please, do join us," she said cooly and motioned him to join them. Eric walked around the table and sat beside Bill. "It's time to start using our power and influence around the globe and start crushing the mainstreamer movement. Nora?"

"Mainstreamers are a global problem, but we have started dismantling it locally," Nora explained. "Several high members of the British parliament are willing to help us in the UK. We also have Russian allies..."

Eric found himself in this odd alternate reality where he was in the upside-down Authority. While the Chancellors all discussed different ways of infiltrating different governments and contract high profile gangs, cartels and mercenaries, his mind travelled to Raven. His bond to her felt different this time. It was closer. He loosely paid attention to the meeting while fiddling with the documents in front of him, waiting for the right moment to bring her up. He only had one shot at saving her.

"TruBlood." Bill declared simply. This got his attention.

"Excuse me?" Asked Salome.

"TruBlood," he repeated. "Fuck politics! Concentrate on TruBlood."

"What about it?" Asked Nora.

"Bomb the factories. There's only five of them," Bill explained. "Destroy them, publicly. Blame it on terrorists. You force mainstreamers to feed on humans, as they were meant to."

Holy fucking shit, Eric thought. The whole table sat quiet, with grins growing on their faces.

"That is genius!" Exclaimed Nora.

All the Chancellors applauded the idea, laughing and praising Bill excitedly.

"What the hell are you doing?" Eric whispered to Bill, leaning in.

"Evolving," Bill told him with a grin.

Eric had to clench his jaw in order not to drop it. Salome was already making phone calls and setting their new plan in motion. Then it hit him all at once: Bill wasn't acting. He wasn't playing the Authority anymore. He was a full convert who had just started a civil war between humans and vampires.

"There is one more thing I'd like to bring to the table," Eric said standing up. This got everyone's attention. "The Church of Night."

"Who?" Asked Steven. What a fucking moron.

"The witches," reminded Eric. "I kept Raven leashed, and she will obey me. But at this point, the Church of Night must know we won't hold up our end of the bargain with the treaty."

"Leave Alexander Randall with me," affirmed Salome.

"Oh, it's not Randall you should be worried about. It's Elijah Blackwood, Raven's father," Eric explained. "Unless you want powerful warlocks and witches knocking down the door, you should free her."

"But she knows too much!" Cried Rosalyn. "Are you freaking kidding me? We can't let her go."

"I agree," said Bill.

Salome smiled politely. "She won't be a problem. No one is coming for her. I had her coven killed centuries ago," Eric stood still without breathing. He felt a pit on his throat. She must have read his face because she continued. "A young man, Damien Williams, was from a rich merchant family who fell in love with her. A ship they controlled at the time was the first and only Anubis ship. Since Damien was the heir of their family business, I couldn't have a witch nowhere near the control of our only method of transcontinental transportation."

Eric took a moment before responding. "You killed her entire family… For a ship?"

"Oh, don't act so surprised, Eric. You've used Anubis more than any of us in the past six centuries. How do you think they have successfully operated for so long? Really good management?" asked Nora annoyed.

Eric was disgusted. His heart ached for Raven. He knew exactly how that felt, as his family was also slaughtered for petty political gain by someone else who sat on this table. He imagined her reaction if he told her. Eric felt sick.

"If it makes you feel any better, Raven was supposed to die too," Salome added. "It was the only glamouring I've ever done that didn't fully work. Damien let her live. But it's clear now that it was what Lilith wanted. Without Raven alive centuries later, none of us would be here together in Her name."

"Isn't Elijah Blackwood a Bishop?" Asked Bill curiously.

"Yes, and he loathes his daughter," continued Salome. "Raven hasn't lived quite up to the Bishop's expectations, and I'm sure he'd be glad if Raven disappeared off the map, dying for an honorable cause,"

"Or she could be used as a martyr for their revenge," Eric told her. "Witches already dislike us, why give them a reason to attack?"

The room fell silent while Salome mulled over. Whatever the speech she gave days ago about wanting to "share the power" was very much bullshit. She killed Roman to be in charge.

"Can you glamour her?" Kibwe asked.

"Yes," Eric lied right away. "I can make her forget everything."

"Not yet. It's best she stays. She could be useful, especially if you can influence her. I can handle the wizards if they come," she said with a chuckle, not taking Eric's request seriously.

Salome sat on the top of the world. Nothing he could say would threaten her, not even the thought of powerful magical warlocks attacking them. But did Elijah Blackwood dislike his only daughter so much that he would leave her as an Authority prisoner? What kind of father was he? The man he met in Raven's home seemed to want to protect his daughter from all of this. Would he really do this? Eric paused at the thought and felt a chill in his bones. Something told him that if he were to save her, Elijah already would have.

* * *

She had enough of being in this goddamned room. She was also annoyed at Eric for leaving her in this forsaken place. Lost in planning her revenge against the Authority, she lost track of time and before she realized it, Eric had returned. She stood up anxiously.

"Are you taking me home?" She asked promptly.

"Not through the front door, but yes."

"So what's the plan?" She retorted.

"Teleportation," Eric told her.

"Ha!" She laughed. "No seriously, what's the plan?"

"I am being serious,"

"Eric, I can't teleport us safely without knowing how deep we are."

"Just guess it!"

"Guess it?!" She blinked in disbelief. "I don't want to end up spliced by a building! Plus, I never teleported two people before! We could die!"

"I take could over will, because we will both die if we stay."

Suddenly the bedroom door swung open and Bill Compton and Nora walked in. They had serious expressions on their faces. The door locked shut again behind them. The four just stared at each other for a moment. Raven could hear the ringing again, loud and clear, echoing in the room. Finally, Eric spoke.

"Hey speaking of ideas Raven, guess who was the genius who pitched blowing up all the TruBlood factories and start a civil war?"

"What?!" She asked loudly. "That's insane!"

"Is it?" Asked Bill annoyed. "What's insane is to force vampires to drink synthetic blood like domesticated animals!"

"What the fuck do you two want?" Hissed Eric.

"We won't be able to protect you for much longer Eric," explained Bill. "Not if you keep fighting Lilith. We know you aren't a true believer."

"Oh wow! Congratulations on figuring that one out."

"If the others find out, they will execute you. As will happen for all non-believers."

There was a moment of silence in the room. Raven could barely recognize the Bill Compton that stood there.

"So let them," Eric told him, disappointed. "What does it matter to you anyway?"

"You saved my life," Bill answered kindly, approaching Eric. "As your King, the least I could do is save your soul."

"You actually make me miss Queen Sophie-Ann, and that's a low bar to reach, Bill. Wanna do something for me? Get Raven out of here before the Authority starts a war against the witches too."

"It's the least you can do for fucking lying to me!" Raven barked.

"It was never my intention to -" pleaded Bill.

"You will be compensated, Raven," interrupted Nora.

"I don't want your fucking money."

"Not money. I am going to give you a gift," she told her. "The greatest gift."

Raven frowned, suspicious. As Bill and Nora stepped forward, the ringing got louder. Raven could feel it vibrate in her bones. Nora took out a golden dropper from her pocket. Raven recognized it right away: it was Roman's. But something told her it was not filled with the Guardian's blood this time. Eric stepped closer to her, agitated.

"I am giving you the gift of immortality. We will turn you into a vampire," she told her smiling.

"No!" Raven barely gasped, stepping back. Eric didn't move.

"We will use Her blood, you will be the purest vampire that has ever lived!" She insisted. "It is the least we could do for you freeing Her from Roman!"

"I am a pureblood witch, I can't be turned! I will just die!" Raven cried.

"Her blood is different!" Nora insisted. " Lilith is God, how dare you doubt Her power?!"

"Oh for fuck's sake, stop acting like you know how blood magic works, Nora!"

"I will when you stop acting like you know my brother!"

"I clearly know him better than he knows you," she told Nora simply, with a cold look on her face.

"Stop it," Eric ordered in a flat voice. "Nora, I will take it." His sister tilted her face confused. He held her hand. "I'll go it with you. I want to meet Lilith with you, show me her way. Make me believe in her."

Bill and Nora smiled relieved.

"Eric, don't! Don't do it. Don't take it!" Raven cried. Eric looked at Raven with sad eyes. "What you people are doing with Lilith's blood is disgraceful! Her power is not yours to take!"

Bill, in vampire speed, picked up the iron collar from the floor and clasped it on Raven's neck. He held her tightly by the arm when she tried to push him off.

"Nora! Listen to me! Lilith is not a vampire like you, she is a very powerful entity-"

"Oh, I am so happy, brother!" Nora told him, ignoring Raven completely. Nora nodded for Eric to kneel, and much to Raven's shock, he complied. "We'll meet Her together just you and I," Nora told him.

"Nora, you have to stop! You don't know what you're doing!" Raven begged.

She dropped a single drop of blood in his mouth, and then another drop in her own. The ringing ceased. She felt the awful cold embrace her. The shock going through her body, like being dipped in a pool of ice. Her heart was cold. Where she felt Eric, now she felt a dark vast nothingness. Nora knelt beside Eric, and they all waited. Eric looked in pain, his lips puckered in disgust. She wondered if it hurt him too, to lose their bond.

"Shh…" Nora comforted him. "She is in you now. Let Her in your heart, Eric."

He winced and shook his head, red tears flooding his eyes. He wouldn't look at Raven. She grew nervous. They drank the blood of the Mother of Demons. The creator Herself. A dense foggy mist engulfed the room, making her skin clammy and cold. It was a strange familiar fog. Suddenly a woman appeared between the four of them. She was covered from head to toe in blood. She had slick black hair was brushed back. Her cold eyes were bright red.

"Oh mother," Nora whispered.

Lilith stared at Nora and Eric for a second before looking at Bill and Raven. When their eyes met, suddenly Bill was no longer touching her. He had been thrown backwards, hitting the farthest wall across the room, twenty feet away. The stone wall he hit cracked with the force Lilith threw him, he fell on the floor hard.

Nora, Eric and Raven watched it all petrified, not daring to move. Raven was free from Bill but she was still frozen in place. Whether it was from fear or from losing Eric, she didn't know. The red woman approached her slowly, without blinking. She had a small, shy smile. Lilith raised her hand, touching the iron collar which evaporated into red dust, spiralling away, getting lost in the fog. Next, she reached for Raven's cheek, caressing it with the back of her cold blood-covered fingers, delicately. Raven didn't even breathe. She felt her heart beating so hard she was sure everyone in the room could hear it. The red woman studied Raven closely, looking pleased. Lilith brushed Raven's hair off her face, tucking it behind her ears and with both hands, cradled Raven's face. She could see Eric and Nora watching. Nora was amazed, Eric was terrified. Lilith gave Raven a soft kiss on the forehead.

_My light, you are beautiful_, a cold soft voice spoke in Hebrew in her head. And in the next moment, she vanished along with the fog. A long minute passed with no one daring to move or talk.__

_ __ _

_ __ _

"What the fuck was that?" Raven asked out loud.

"Why did she attack me?!" Cried Bill, standing up.

"How could you see Her?! You didn't take Her blood!" Nora yelled.

Raven hadn't even thought of that, but she was right. How could Raven see Lilith? How could she feel Her touch? How could she hear Her in her dreams?

"She is blessed. Lilith has blessed Raven Blackwood Herself," Nora said, crawling on her hands towards Raven. She knelt in front of her, hands together as if Raven was the statue of a saint. Bill looked so furious he looked to be in pain. But yet, he stood still, studying Raven in a new light.

"You are the chosen one, Raven Blackwood," Nora repeated.

"Chosen for what?"

"You are the miracle Lilith sent to us! You are Her path!" Nora said with her voice trembling. "Lilith's plan for you is not done yet,"

Everything was moving in slow motion. She could feel static electricity in the air, popping and sparkling on her skin.

"Raven we have to get out of here now," Eric ordered, getting up.

_My light, you are beautiful._

__

__

Everything starting to move fast again, as someone had hit fast forward. She barely had time to think. The red woman's touch still felt cold on her skin. Something shifted within her. The way she looked at her, her eyes…In Her dark world stars will shine and shower us with light. Until she rises again.

"No! She stays!" Roared Bill. He threw an armchair at Eric, who slapped it away across the room causing a loud bang. The door burst open and guards flooded the room with guns pointing their lasers everywhere. Salome entered the room as well.

"Salome!" Nora cried. "You were right! Lilith does want Raven in our path!"

"Turn her into a vampire," Salome ordered.

_My light,_

__

__

"Raven!" Eric yelled shaking her shoulders. "Aim high, now!"

Her mind snapped back to reality. Raven grabbed Eric back tight, squeezing his torso as hard as she could. "Nunc Adsum, Ego autem non sum!"

And suddenly there was silence again. His arms embraced her as she could feel the frigid night air blow past them, chilling her whole body. She opened her eyes again. She was surrounded by darkness, city lights danced miles aways like a rug of lights. She glanced below and saw the metallic roof of the warehouse, many feet below. She did it. She teleported two people, completely blindly and they didn't die! Raven looked at Eric.

"Let's go home," He told her, as he flew into the night.

They flew in silence for about fifteen minutes, and Eric flew much faster than she remembered him ever flying. It was like his vampire speed but in the air. Every time she closed her eyes she could see Lilith. My light, you are beautiful. The only person whom she ever remembered calling her that was her father, but surely that was a coincidence. How could you see Her? You didn't take Her blood! She never took her blood. Perhaps when Eric healed her arm or gave her that bloody kiss? But he wasn't under Her influence anymore when it had happened. Did it matter? Lilith's soft features. Her glowing red eyes, her gentle touch. The fog, just like in her dreams. As they flew, the wind in her ears reminded her of the red woman's haunting ringing. She felt so incredibly cold flying with her legs exposed, she asked Eric to make a brief stop on the ground.

They landed at a gas station in the middle of nowhere. Anywhere in rural Louisiana was the middle of nowhere apparently. She walked in the store, mindlessly grabbing food and a bottle of flavoured water. She looked at Eric, standing still by the counter watching the news on the small television. She placed her random purchases on the counter.

"A terrorist attack hit a TruBlood factory in Dallas, Texas tonight at approximately 1 AM," the news anchor spoke with a sombre tone. "Along with the other 4 factories worldwide. No groups have yet taken the claim of this brutal act of terror. A statement from the Whitehouse assures the public that the government has enough of the synthetic blood drink stocked to last until a new plant is functioning-"

Raven wanted to throw up, her mind was racing so fast. We are all pawns in their little game. She ran outside, out of the bright sterile lights and back into the darkness. Eric glamoured the gas station attendant, took her stuff and followed her outside. She was at the edge of the parking lot, facing the dark woods. She felt an undeniable wave of wrath burn inside her, her blood boiling with the urge to scream. She felt betrayed. Voices kept echoing in her head on a loop.

_How could you see Her? You didn't take Her blood!_

_I don't understand Harriet, why won't she come? It's Samhain.___

_ __ _

_ __ _

_My light, you're beautiful._

She searched the dark clearing until the found what she was looking for: a pale face stares at her from the woods. A barn owl peeked at Raven from a tree branch.

_I don't know why she won't come Raven, but your mother loved you very much.___

_ __ _

_ __ _

What if her mother didn't come, not because Harriet wasn't a powerful medium, or because they didn't perform Seances correctly, but because they were performing the wrong spell? What if what her mother needed wasn't to cross the veil, but to be summoned a different magic key? What if her mother loved her all along?

"Tell Elijah Blackwood," she told the owl. "That I know who my mother is."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp. Things just got more complicated.  
Leave a comment and thanks for reading!


	12. The Dawn

Salome called another meeting after Eric and Raven vanished into thin air. Salome stood by the long table in the main hall, furious. Nora felt a pain in her chest like she never felt before. She had brought disappointment to her mentor and to Lilith. Her brother, who had never bent to anything or anyone outside of their family, had completely given himself to her - the witch. How could men with such power and intelligence give up everything for a fucking witch? Was Godric under a spell? Was Eric? This confirmed what she already knew: the love of a witch was poisonous to a soul. No one was safe. Witches were demons, fake believers, and not to be trusted. What could Lilith possibly want with her, she didn't understand. The Goddess worked in mysterious ways.

"We have to find them," ordered Salome. "Despite us giving Eric Northman the gift of Lilith, he chose to betray us! And I want to stake him myself!" She yelled at the head of security who nodded quietly. "Put a bounty on Eric Northman's at 3 million dollars and one on Raven Blackwood at 10, both alive. Tell all the Sheriffs in all areas immediately." The guard nodded once again. "GO!" She yelled and the guard left the room promptly.

"Honestly, I don't understand what the big fuss is," Russell complained. "More of Lilith's blood for us! What's the big deal over Eric Northman and what's-her-face? Who cares, boo-hoo! I'm hungry."

"The witch is important for Lilith's plan," Nora explained. "I saw a vision of Her and She has chosen Raven Blackwood as the path to Her light. We must find the witch."

"Then I'm sure the Oh-so-powerful Lilith will find a way," Russell whined putting his hands together and stood up, ready to leave. "I'm positively ravenous, who wants to go out and eat?"

"Ooh, me!" Newlin shrieked, getting up. "I could eat!"

"Excellent, let's go, my dear."

"Actually," Salome interrupted, still frowning. "The Reverend has an important meeting and appearance on national television tomorrow he needs to prepare for."

"Well I thought the Book of fuckin' Lilith wanted us to go out and hunt," he challenged her. "Or is there some chapter about sitting around and memorizing index cards?"

"Our meeting isn't over yet Russell," Salome said between her teeth. "Once it is, you two can go."

There was a heavy silence in the room, the two of them locked in a deadly staring contest. Edgington finally took his seat back on the table. Nora needed to cheer up Salome with some good news and luckily she had some. "Next item in the agenda," Nora said hopeful. "I've recruited Sangunistas around the world to translate the Book of Vampyr in 70 different languages so far. Every new vampire should be required to read it."

"Very well," Salome agreed, softening the sour look on her face as she sat back down.

"And old ones should as well," Bill Compton added, nodding at her. "Everybody should know Her word."

Nora smiled. It felt so good to have her work being appreciated for once. Roman never cared for Lilith, he was a pitiful excuse for a leader. Nora felt she could finally serve Lilith the way She deserved. Everything was falling into place. Everything but Eric.

"Are we seriously going to sit here and discuss education reform? That is what's on the agenda? What are we, vampires or school moms?" Russell asked them, indignant.

"Her word is sacred, Russell," Salome told him in cold cone. Nora could tell she was starting to regret putting Russell as a Chancellor.

"And how do you propose that we seize our rightful place in the hierarchy of beings when we are helpless as hamsters for 12 hours out of the day?!"

"That is the way we were created," Kibwe finally spoke.

"But it's not how we need to remain!" Russell stood up again, pushing his chair away. "The legends are true folks! The blood of the fae allows us to day-walk. Imagine this: the dawn no longer being your enemy!" Salome pursed her lips but said nothing. No one did. Nora herself was getting annoyed at Russell and his constant derailment of every meeting with every thought that popped into his head. "Compton, the Viking and I have drunk from the fairy. You know it to be true," he nodded at Bill, who frowned deeply.

"And you know it only lasts for a few minutes at most," Bill explained. Wait a minute. Really?

"But what if we harness the blood? We capture another fairy even! Breed them! Or! Or! We study it, we replicate it, if the Japanese could replicate human blood why can't we replicate fairy blood?!"

"Because we are of the night!" Salome stood up at once. "The sun is forbidden. Fairies are an abomination."

"Their blood is like sucking on heaven!" Russell thundered, walking towards Salome, standing inches from her. "I wish I had just a drop to give you, so I could shove it in your pie hole."

"I saved you once Russell," Salome whispered angrily. "I can put you back underground."

At these words, Russell threw Salome across the room. Her body turned into a blur and hit on of the columns, shaking dust off the ceiling tiles. Nora and Bill rushed to Russell's face, fangs out and ready to rip his head off. All the other Chancellors also stood, ready to attack.

"Oh please!" Russell yelled. "Give me an excuse to kill you! The look on Eric's face when I tell him I killed his little sister, will be fucking phenomenal!" Russell rushed to the top of the table, standing with his arms wide open. "I am three thousand years old! I am stronger than all of you combined! How long did you think I was going to be your fucking lapdog?" He asked Salome, who was slowly standing up on the other side of the room. "I offered you the opportunity to share into the greatest advancement in the history of our kind, and the small-mindedness that has literally kept you in the dark has shown me you are no better than fucking Roman Zimojic!" Russell stood down from the table and rushed halfway towards the door. "Keep your Lilith! I will not be constrained by anyone, not even your fucking God! I will have the sun!"

And with those words, Russell disappeared from the room completely.

* * *

He dared sit on Eric's office chair while counting the money after a quiet Friday night in Fangtasia. Pam never wanted to hurt anyone as much as he wanted to hurt this piece of shit: Elijah Stormer, the new Shirreff of Area 5. He had long, dry, messy and poorly dyed black hair, heavy eyeliner and wore knock-off period clothing from Hot Topic or some shit. He was an all-around tacky vampire douchebag.

"Four, five, six-hundred," his voice was raspy and nasally, like a whiny teenager.

"Well fuck me sideways, he can count past five," she muttered to Tara, who sat in the office chair by her side.

"Where's the rest?" He complained.

"There's nothing legal left for vampires, and humans aren't exactly flocking these days," Tara told him.

"Six hundred bucks in a night?" He glanced at Pam. "How are you paying your employees?"

"She's not," Tara quickly told him, pruning her nails.

"Look, this bar up in Dallas has these repurposed two-way peep-show booth," everything about this sentence was disgustingly wrong and if Pam could stab her own ears to prevent her from hearing the rest - she would. "You put in a 20 and a little door opens up, and the human sticks his or her wrist, or leg, or whatever, and the vampire has 30 seconds to suck. It earns over 2 grand an hour."

"Thanks for the suggestion, but we prefer to do things in the old fashioned way," Pam told him with her best fake smile.

"Yeah, you and blockbuster video," he muttered, leaning back and putting his dirty boots up on the table. Eric's table. The fucking nerve. "You know, protection from your Shirreff doesn't come free and with the current climate, prices are going up. Here's your cut," he tossed Tara two twenties, and a one-hundred-dollar Bill to Pam.

Tara reached forward, grabbed the two sad bills and made it for the door. Pam considered not even taking the pity money.

"Oh, and I have one more directive from up high," Oh for fucks sakes, will you ever shut up? But Elijah continued. "We have a new procreation mandate to bump up our population by the end of the year. 30 new baby vamps in Area 5."

"You want us to make 30 new vampires in 5 weeks?" Tara asked in shock.

"And if we don't?" Pam dared ask, already knowing what the dipshit was going to say.

"Then in the name of the Authority I take possession of your assets," he whined again. "Including your progeny."

"There's no fuckin' way! Do you even know the responsibility required to properly raise one, let alone 30 newborns? Who the fuck is making these rules?!" Pam could feel her voice rising. She knew Elijah was twice her age, but she was going to take her chances.

"Are you questioning the Authority Pamela?" Elijah asked, his eyes wide open in anger. Pam's cold blood was boiling hot. Only Eric got to call her by her full name. "Do you know who sits at their table?"

"Yeah, your fuckin' mommy," Tara barked rolling her eyes. "You won't fucking shut up about it."

"My maker," he corrected her, raising his voice. "Is an Authority Chancellor, and she has over 200 progenies!"

"Yeah and look how they fuckin' turned out," Tara muttered.

"Listen you two, I am just trying to help you hopeless idiots out!" Elijah paused for a moment, hesitant. But he continued. "If you don't want to change your business model to keep Fangtasia open, there is one other thing you can do," he leaned back with a smuggle look on his face.

"Dare I ask?" Pam glanced at Tara.

"The Authority has a bounty out for two high profile traitors. Me and a couple of other Shirreffs are going to split it. Because I think you would be useful, I'd be willing to let you in on it," he explained. "Your share would be 100 thousand dollars, tax-free."

Pam and Tara looked at each other for a moment, brows raised. There was something off about this deal, something this nasty little weasel wasn't telling. "We would be useful how?" Pam asked crossing her arms.

"Well, you'd be excellent bait Pamela," Elijah told her with a shit-eating grin. "The bounty was put on Eric Northman and his witch, Raven Blackwood."

The room stood still. Pamela knew Eric was facing treason charges for not killing Russell Edgington when he was told to. Ever since he left Fangtasia, she assumed he had met the true death. This entire time she believed her maker to be dead. Eric must have escaped the Authority and the witch must be with him. What the hell did you do Eric, to make the Authority put a bounty on you? Before Pam had time to react, a blur flew across the room and hit Elijah dead center in his forehead. The Shirreff exploded instantly into a splatter that painted half the office crimson-goo red.

"Tara!" Pam screamed. "What have you done!?"

Tara's big brown eyes looked back at her. She had thrown one of Eric's prized Viking swords that hung on the wall right on the dipshit's forehead, instantly killing him.

"No one extorts us like that," Tara told her firmly. "No one comes into our house, tells us how to run our business and then tries to buy our loyalty by makin' us betray family."

"But you hate Eric," Pam muttered.

"Yeah I think the dude is a prick," Tara retorted. "But you love him. And I know you love Fangtasia, and I wasn't about to let this asshole make you choose."

Pam's heart grew four sizes at those words. She looked at the bloodstained office desk and chair, dripping in guts. Tara had just committed high treason to protect her. She had to blink back tears from her eyes, but it was hard when she felt Tara grabbing her hand. It had been a while since Pamela felt like this like she had someone who cared for her. And Tara of all people.

"Let's go find them," Tara told her, with a soft smile on her beautiful face.

Pam leaned over and kissed her, not knowing how else to thank her. How does she thank someone for loving her?

* * *

Raven knocked on the little shack's door. The lights were on, and pop music was blaring through the windows. She wondered if Lafayette ever slept. She heard him come to the door, opening the door wide. He wore a full set of cheetah print pyjamas and sipped on tequila from a little glass. His eyes landed on Eric, who stood right behind her, but for the first time - he didn't flinch.

"Yous late," he told her, leaning on the door frame and taking another sip, and holding the shot glass up by his shoulder.

"Yes, yes, I know," Raven nodded. "But I told you I'd be fine, and I am."

"And the contract?" He asked, placing a hand on his hip.

Raven rolled her eyes. "Oh, you're gonna make me say it, aren't you?"

"Yes hoe, I am," he now looked at Eric with a small grin. The way he blinked made his long eyelashes flutter. Was he… Flirting? Eric did not seem to mind. He just stood at ease behind Raven.

"There was no contract, a coup happened, the Authority is now Lilith worshipping-"

"Lilith?" He interrupted surprised. "She was in one of the books you gave me. Das a good thing, no?"

"No, not really," Eric finally spoke. "Can we come in already? It's almost dawn."

"Wait," Raven interrupted surprised. "You read the books?" She was surprised. Last she remembered, Lafayette wanted to quit magic altogether.

"Had to, we had an Ifrit problem while you were gone," Lafayette sighed, and Raven's jaw almost fell to the floor. An Ifrit? Like the high fire demon Ifrit? How did they even have the power to take him down? What kind of ley lines ran through this place?! "And hell naw yous can't come in, I only look stupid."

"I'll be right back," she nodded at Eric, entering the house past Lafayette's shoulder. He still stood at the door, eyeing Eric as if he were a tall piece of candy. "I'm just here for my house and Lucifer, but please come by tomorrow for supper and tell me all about it"

"Only if you tell your kitchen that I'm cookin'," he told her handing Raven her luggage which was hidden behind the couch. Top-notch security at this house, as always.

She heard little hooves tippy-tap down the hallway, and the small piglet ran excitedly to her, tail bouncing left and right. She picked up Lucifer who felt much heavier than she remembered. Raven asked Lafayette to invite Jesus and Holly as well, it had been too long since she had seen them.

"Is yous okay?" Lafayette asked her when she stepped out of the porch.

"Yeah," she lied. By the look in his eyes, she knew he knew something was wrong, but she didn't have it in her to tell him right now. Thankfully, he didn't pry either. Maybe tomorrow, at dinner. "Thanks for everything Lafayette, see you tomorrow."

The couple stepped back onto the road, she wondered how Lucifer would take flying.

"Hey Northman," Lafayette called out. Eric turned and gave him a look she had never seen before. "Pam needs you."

* * *

The club was empty. It was way past 4 am after all. Everything was just as he left it. He had taught Pam well. Eric glanced at Raven, who eyed the whole club in silence. The last time she was here was Halloween and the place looked very different then. He remembered that night as if it happened five minutes ago. He wished he could go back to it. He wished he would have danced with her. He wished things had happened differently. He wished things would have been just… Easy. A strong scent of bleach suddenly burned his nose, sending his instincts on high alert. Something had happened. He followed the noises coming from the office, Raven following him close.

"I leave you alone for five minutes," Eric said leaning on the room's door frame, crossing his arms.

What they encountered almost made Eric laugh. Pam and Tara, knees deep in bloody muck, scrubbing the office clean, gathering remains in garbage bags.

"Eric!" Pam cried smiling.

Tara made a sour face, not happy to see them in the slightest.

"Holy shit, you're alive!" Pam shrieked, taking off her pink latex gloves and running over to him. He embraced her tightly. His fingers intertwined with her hair, holding her body close. How could he ever leave her?

"Wait a minute, Tara, you're a vampire?!" Raven asked, shocked.

"Yeah and I'm having so much fuckin' fun, it's fuckin' awesome," Tara barked sarcastically, shoving more guts into a bag, blood splatter staining all her clothes.

"Eric, what the hell did you do?" Pam cried, looking up to him.

"Me? What the hell did you do?" He retorted nodding at the half red office.

"That was the new Shirreff of area 5, and he had to go," Tara told them, throwing a liver into the plastic bag.

"You killed a Shirreff?" He repeated raising his brow at Pam.

"Uhm," She shifted away from him but gave a proud nod at Tara. "She did, actually."

Eric blinked twice. He regretted ever being bored sitting on his throne downstairs. He longed for a night of boredom. Of watching strippers dance, picking one that delighted him, fucking and feeding on her until sunrise and going back to a peaceful and restful sleep. Wake up and repeat. But something told him those nights were over for good.

"Why in Godric's name would you do that?" He asked, not raising his voice and closing his eyes, trying not to lose his patience. Would this shitstorm ever end?

"Oh, I don't know Eric. Maybe if you hadn't left for your little New Orleans vacation with your flavour of the month and left us to clean up your fuckin' mess I wouldn't have to have killed that fuckin' prick!" Tara barked. "But he did deserve it."

"Vacation? Is that what you think we were doing?!" Raven snapped back. "You have no idea what we had to go through - especially Eric. We had to claw our way out of that house of horrors and barely made it, thank you very much."

"Well, that explains the bounty," Pam sighed.

"Bounty? What bounty?" Raven asked right away.

"The Authority put a bounty on both of y'all. Three million on Eric, ten on you," Pam said sourly.

"Only three for me and ten for her?! Well, that doesn't hurt my pride or anything," Eric muttered. "Pam are you sure?"

"The old Sheriff told us. Wanted to use me for bait, the little fucker," she explained. "He wasn't lying though, I found the message from the Rosalyn Harris on his phone. It's too close to sunrise now, but I can guarantee you this place will be crawlin' with bounty hunters come nightfall."

"Then where will we go?" Tara asked.

Eric glanced at Raven. She was holding a fortress in her own hand. One that no one even knew where it was, and one that could move on the snap of a finger. She raised her eyebrows in surprise.

"No," Raven muttered. "No, you can't be serious. I place my house at a concealed location for my own safety, I can't just disclose that to strangers."

"You live at the end of Old Guysborough road off route 17," Pam told her.

Her cheeks went flush in anger. "How the fuck do you know that?"

"Welcome to Louisiana hotcakes, there are no goddamn secrets here."

* * *

The three vampires followed Raven into the clearing of where her house used to be, and soon would be again. Pam swore to kill her if she stepped into swamp mud and ruined her shoes. But Raven confidently strolled through the high grass, following Lucifer, holding her house in the old dingy luggage. She placed it in the middle of the dirt patch, eyeballing where the house was before. Raven could not believe she was about to host not one, but three vampires in her house.

"Step back," she warned them, and they followed, nervously.

She waved her arms wide as she chanted to the moon. A gust of wind hit, followed by a blinding burst of light coming from the suitcase. They all covered their faces briefly, but it ended quicker than it started. When she opened his eyes again, the black house stood tall by the lake once again, as if it never left. It's pruned bushes, her car, the shed. Not a shingle out of place, like nothing had happened at all.

"What in the hell…" Tara muttered.

The magic chimes swung in full force. Raven unceremoniously skipped up the stairs and ripped the chimes down from the porch ceiling. No need for them to tell her magic creatures were nearby, she already knew that they were in it.

She barged in her house, followed by Lucifer. Everything was the same as it has been in the past 200 years. She turned around and looked at the trio standing on her porch. Eric took a step inside, with a small grin on his face. She did not believe what she was about to do.

"Any time now would be great," Pam snapped.

Raven glanced at Pamela and Tara, who looked unimpressed standing out on the porch. She looked back at Eric, who looked at her kindly. Vampires inside her house. This was fucking insane. Why would she even help them? It was their fault she was in this position to begin with. If only she had listened to Lafayette and never gone back after hunting Russell. Then Eric would not have come back to her. He would still be Hers.

"I know this house holds precious memories to you," Eric whispered in her ear, walking behind her. "But aren't you ready?"

"Ready for what?" She murmured.

"To leave the forest,"

Raven paused for a moment. The dream. You've been stuck in this forest this whole time because you've been hiding from the real world when you're awake! Those words cut her deep, but she knew them to be the truth. Even with Lafayette, Jesus and Holly she had kept her distance. Pushing them away when they asked about her family. Underestimating their powers. Never letting them go upstairs.

"Pamela and Tara, please come inside," Raven spoke, as the two women awkwardly entered the house.

She heard the boiler grumble downstairs, grunting through the radiator pipes. The house was not going to be happy about this. Raven sprinted upstairs, and stood in the hallway, facing all the closed doors going down it. She thought of her father. Do you actually want to live like this? In this childhood nostalgia box you call home? Completely closed off from the world, sad and alone?

It was time.

She waved her arms, opening all the doors to her sisters' old bedrooms. She opened the linen closet and watched the broom, mop, bucket, vacuum, feather dusters and laundry bins all come out, marching in line and entering all the rooms like this was a scene from Fantasia.

A voice spoke behind her. She didn't even hear Eric coming up the stairs. "Thank you," he whispered, taking her hand. "For keeping my family safe."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N: hello! Bit of a writer's block here, I've been stuck writing chapter 14 forever, but I think (?) I got it. Don't forget to kudo and COMMENT! I see you all reading it, I see them numbers, give me some love below xoxo


	13. The Last Supper

"Can I go play now?" Raven asked her, annoyed.

"You only drew eight of the magic circles, there's five more still to go," Agatha explained between breaths. The muggy early fall air made her garments stick to her skin. Her shoulders ached from chopping wood for the winter. She sat down on the sunroom steps with her small axe and a sharpening stone. Agatha wiped the sweat off her forehead with her sleeve. Slowly she sharpened the blade, watching the small child draw the ninth circle in the mud with a branch stick. Her body was so small, her dress fit like a giant flour sack. But little Raven was going to grow into it, hopefully.

It had been only 40 human years since the little ghostly looking girl had arrived, but Agatha loved her as if she grew her in her own womb. She was Marion's daughter who unfortunately passed during Raven's earthly arrival. Marion was one of the founding members of this coven, and she was hard-headed, petty, a bit mean and dangerously witty. Also the greatest witch Agatha had ever known. Agatha and Marion always fought. Anything was a reason for dispute. Everything was cause for arguments and Marion just would not let things slide for the sake of peace. But out of everyone who had come and gone to the coven through the years, Agatha missed Marion the most. Although Raven was the spitting image of Marion, she was not much like her yet. Raven was gentle and kind. She was quiet, but always wore a smile on her face. Never threw tantrums, or pouted when they had to move. Never disobeyed or got into trouble with the village's mortal kids. She loved her sisters more than anything, despite the rest of the coven being much older than her.

And speaking of her sisters, two of them were missing from their beds this dawn. It never occurred to Agatha that having young adult women in the house would be ten times the work of raising a child. Finally, two figures came out of the clearing sloppily walking towards the house.

"Where the heaven have you two been?" Agatha's hoarse voice cut through the yard behind the black house. Raven stood a little straighter and stopped drawing the ninth circle and watched Mabel and Catherine lazily make their way to the house form the woods. They carried baskets and the bottom of their skirts were covered in mud, but they laughed without a care in the world.

"Dinna worry Agatha," Mabel laughed. "We were tradin' with the Cherokee. Fine folk, if I ken one."

"The Cherokee? What are they doing this far north?" Agatha asked, putting her hands on her hips.

Catherine shrugged. "No idea. Trading with the Mohawk, maybe? Anyway, we got a lot of herbs and seeds from the south."

"And rum I bet," Fine folk my ass. Agatha sneered smelling the liquor on the two. They spent the night partying with both tribes she guessed. It didn't happen often, but sometimes the tribes got together and there was always heavy drinking and buffoonery involved. The natives knew what they were, and unlike the rest of humans, they did not mind it. They cherished witches since they used magic too.

"Did you get me anything?!" Raven poked around Mabel's basket.

"Aye, little bairn!" Mabel told her, and the little girl's eyes lit like crystals. "Wouldn't dream of comin' back without something for ye."

"Raven go finish your circles, come on!" Agatha ordered. "And you two, go take a bath and sober up. It's day time for Lord's sake, and plenty of chores are waiting."

The two young women stepped inside cursing under their breath, and Agatha sat back down on the steps. She picked the axe and the stone and resumed sharpening the blade. Suddenly her skin almost jumped from her bones with fright. Elijah Blackwood was standing right next to her.

"Hecate," she gasped. "You scared me."

The man chuckled. His eyes did not move from Raven, who was crouched on the eleventh circle. She didn't hear the man come because he wasn't really here. He was astral projecting. "It's just me Agatha."

Raven continued to draw the magic key, she was focused on the symbols around the edges, muttering the meaning of each to herself. Her black hair drooped over her shoulders and almost touched the mud. Elijah couldn't even blink. He studied the child with such fascination it let a smile peak through his lips. Both of his hands rested on his long black cane and his shoulders stood stiff as if he were an important man posing for a portrait. Elijah was now an important man, yes, but Agatha knew him since they could barely speak so it was hard to take him seriously. It was silly of him to carry the cane with him - he didn't need it. However, at least how Elijah explained it since he was the youngest Bishop of all districts he believed it made him look older. Wounded even. As if he fought battles or duels and his injuries were some kind of proof of his courage, bravery and experience. All lies, of course. Elijah couldn't duel to save his life. He was always a scrawny little boy who enjoyed books and staying indoors where it was dry, warm and safe. Intelligence and knowledge were nothing to be ashamed of, she always told him, but alas. There it stood the stupid black oak cane with a sterling silver handle.

"Harriet told me something very interesting last full moon," Agatha told him with her brows raised.

"Did she now?"

"She told me Raven was going to die three times," Agatha told the Bishop in Old German.

"Ah! Nonsense!" Elijah answered too quickly.

She frowned, sharpening the axe one more time. He was lying. She knew him long enough to know when he did so. It was a small change in the timber of his voice. That, and he answered too fast as if he already knew what she was going to tell him.

"Do you take me as a fool?" She challenged him.

"Are you questioning your Bishop?"

"Damn right I am," she picked up the axe and continued to sharpen it. It would be bold of him to lie to her with an axe in her hand. Bishop or not, to her Elijah would always be the brittle little boy who lived next door. "What aren't you telling me?"

Raven stood up and walked over a couple of feet to start on the last magic circle. Just from a glance she could tell her 10th circle was a bit crooked but otherwise, they were all correct.

"Why are you teaching her the magic keys?"

"For the same reason why she would die thrice. Did Marion even know?" Elijah's eyes didn't move from Raven, but she could tell his thoughts were elsewhere. Agatha wanted answers and she wanted them now. "Did my sister know, Elijah?!"

At the mention of his name, Raven stood up quickly and looked around the backyard.

"Papa?" She called out not seeing him.

"It was all her idea," he muttered, tears flooding the corner of his eyes.

"Is Papa here?" Raven asked hopeful. But she couldn't see him standing right next to Agatha. Astral projecting in a way that only one specific person could see you required complicated and unpleasant magic. Raven loved her papa, and he barely visited which only broke the poor little girl's heart. Could he not tell his daughter missed him? Why would he conceal himself from her? What kind of father would do this to his own child?

"He is not, I was just talking to myself again. Are you done? Let's see how you did." Agatha got up, feeling the weight on her old knees. Raven took her hand and they all walked to dirt patch next to the vegetable garden. She reached for the broom and grabbed it before heading over. She felt Elijah stand right beside her and look at the circles. Raven named all thirteen circles correctly.

"Can I go see what Mabel got me from the Cherokee?" Her eyes beamed with excitement.

"Yes," she nodded. Raven bolted for the house at once.

"Raven is going to save us all," Elijah said in a deeper tone than before.

"While that may be true Elijah," Agatha told him, frowning her eyebrows. "Who is going to save her?"

* * *

Burnt toast, a small and hard-cold chunk of butter and a single boiled egg, shell on, no tea or coffee - that's the breakfast her kitchen served Raven the next morning. The house was still pissed at her for hosting three vampires. Or maybe it was pissed that she cleaned her sisters' old bedrooms to host the said vampires. Or because it was locked in the luggage for so long. Hard to say, they were all valid points. It would take time, but the house would adjust. Raven wasn't hungry anyway. Her coven was going to arrive in a couple of hours for dinner, and she had some chores to do. She went out to buy groceries as she doubted pickled vegetables and salted meat would satisfy Lafayette's culinary endeavours. She also had to buy a couple of cases of TruBlood for her new house guests. Except it was already sold out everywhere she went. Even at an exorbitant 80 dollars per 6 pack - every shelf was empty. It was a genius move by the Authority, really. With no TruBlood left, and humans were officially back on the menu.

Still, she needed to get something for Eric, Pam and Tara to eat. It was not safe for her to step back into Fangtasia - night time or not. So she went to the only other place she could think of that would have food for vampires: Eric Northman's condo. She tailgated through the building's entrance and had to break into his place (through the front door this time, not the window), but luckily no nosy neighbours saw her enter. The place looked much bigger with the bright daylight. She remembered the last time she was here on Halloween night. She headed straight to the open concept kitchen -Why does Eric need a kitchen at all? He doesn't even eat food - and in the fridge, she found the jackpot: real blood bags. A, AB, B and O negative. After opening many empty cupboards she found a small chest cooler to put the blood in with some ice from the freezer. Before leaving she also packed Eric some fresh clothes, along with some women's clothes and dresses she found in his closet. Raven assumed they were Pam's and hoped they would also fit Tara.

When she got home, she placed extra protection wards on the house. Invisibility cloak, anti-tracking runes and protection against… High demons. Exhausted, she decided a cleansing bath for her soul was much needed. Full of salt of the Dead Sea, marigold flowers, fresh basil, ginger, a handful of cardamom pods, 13 drops of cedarwood oil, and the largest chunk of amethyst she had, the size of a football. It sat on the bottom of the tub, glimmering by the drain. She needed to cleanse the Authority out of her aura, from now until her next life.

She sat in the soothing hot water, watching the flower petals float. The house was quiet. It was almost like she was in it alone again. She peeked down the hallway, three of the doors were closed. Eric was in Mabel's room, Pam was in Harriet's, Tara was in Catherine's. She did a simple light-blocking spell on the windows and doors so they could sleep safely during the day. Eric didn't say anything when Raven assigned him a room that wasn't hers. It was enough that he was taking refuge in her house, he didn't need to be in her bed too. At least not with Pam and Tara around. It was odd sleeping with Lucifer again on her feet. He was small and warm and snored loudly. He didn't embrace her. He didn't run his fingers through her hair. He didn't watch her sleep. She missed Eric's weight on her bed. The weird sense of comfort of being in the same room. The knowledge that she could reach out in the dark and find him so close to her. Perhaps it just felt like that because she was inside the Authority and he was all she had. Out here, she didn't need him to protect her. In fact, she was the one doing the protecting. Flashes of Eric Northman lying next to her flooded her mind.

Raven closed her eyes, trying to relax and think of something else. Anything else, but Eric Northman in her bed. An intruder came into her mind. My light, you're beautiful. She felt her heart race, panic bubbling up. She re-winded all her memories in her head, trying to make sense of it all, trying to find answers in her past, but nothing she could remember from her coven gave her any kind of answer. God if only I could ask them. Raven felt like crying, but couldn't. Raven immediately grabbed the edges of her tub and submerged herself in water completely. Being in water always calmed her. It slowed everything down, hugged every inch of her skin, silenced all the voices that managed to seep through the silence above the surface.

Her mother's name was Marion Blackwood. And before that, Marion Payne. She was a conjurer like her father. She had dark brown hair, blue eyes and pale skin. Agatha told her they met on their Debutante ball a dozen times. That it was love at first sight. They both chose the same specialty and had the same mentor. Their love flourished under the same roof. Her mother got pregnant halfway through her apprenticeship and perished in childbirth. Elijah finished his and became a jewel merchant for humans, but truly, he bought and sold magical objects and talismans. It wasn't until he lost his coven in a war against the Scotts, and the plague hit Europe that he thought of fleeing to the colonies. That was the story she knew. That was the story that was told to her, over and over again by her family. And by her father.

Why would they lie to her? Why would they make this elaborate lie, all just to hide this from her? Were they expecting she would never find out? Is that why Agatha always kept Raven away from vampires? Not because she was overprotective out of love, but because she and her father had a dirty little secret? And why, God WHY, would Elijah Blackwood do such a thing? For what purpose?

Would this mean she wasn't really a witch? That she was something else entirely? Creating new creatures was strictly forbidden, surely the Circle of Mages would have found out and punished her father for this, along with anyone who knew. Or maybe she was a witch, and not only she was a pureblood, but she was the purest of them all. Her mind was racing uncontrollably again. She rose out of the water with a bitter taste in her mouth.

Just the thought of her family doing something so vile and hurting her was unfathomable. Maybe she got it all wrong. Maybe the red woman looking so much like her was a coincidence. Maybe the way Lilith touched her and made her feel was just a sliver of Her enormous power. According to all the literature she had, demons were manipulative by nature. Maybe she just saw what She wanted her to see.

Raven sat up, breathing again. It would be just a matter of time until Elijah showed up with some answers. But she wasn't so sure she wanted them.

* * *

It felt good having Jesus, Lafayette and Holly back in her house again. They all sat in the sunroom, watching Lafayette cook. The kitchen was covered in bright golden orange light as the sun was setting across the lake. Lafayette initially opened a bottle of wine to cook with, and despite not a drop making into the pan as of yet, three other bottles were already opened and empty. They filled her in on all the Bon Temps gossip she had missed - although only about half of it she understood. Sookie got dumped by Alcide (the werewolf). Deputy officer Jason Stackhouse closed some cold cases by finding evidence of vampire misdoing (about fucking time). Holly's sons were visiting their grandparents in Tennessee, and she was also single after Andy cheated on her with a fairy (men are shit). Arlene and Terry lost their house in the Ifrit fire but Jesus, Holly and Laffayete agreed to summon, trap and banish the demon and cast a counter curse on Terry, in exchange for half of the insurance money.

"Poor Terry is like a whole new person now with that demon gone!" Holly told them, opening another bottle.

"And so is my wallet wassup!" Lafayette cheered.

"I am speechless," Raven smiled. "Truly. Ifrits are no joke."

"We are just thankful you left your books and grimoires," Jesus continued. "The stuff Marnie had in her shop was useless."

"Well, that was done on purpose. We don't let books like mine roam free in society. Even people with no magic powers could do some damage if they knew what they were doing. There's a lot of power in rituals."

"No shit Sherlock," said Lafayette, leaning on the kitchen island, putting food carefully on plates. "Some of the stuff yous got in there is fuckin' dangerous. The stuff with the magic keys? Damn."

Don't let Elijah hear Lafayette saying this, he would have him recruited as one of his students faster than you could say Solomon. They grabbed their plates and headed to the dining room, which was already set with silk cloths, napkins, more wine and candle lights adorned the long table. Raven was excited, she didn't get to use this room very often. She glanced at the portrait of her coven on the wall, then back at the table watching her new one chatter with their charming southern twangs. Because he cooked, she let Lafayette sit at the head of the table. On his right sat Jesus, and on his left, Holly and Raven.

"So Raven I must ask, why have you lived in this enormous house all by your damn self all these years?" Holly asked, drinking more wine.

Raven took a moment to answer. She thought about all the heartache, grief and sadness she felt within these walls. All the times she questioned why she was even alive, with no family to love. She remembered all the anger and rage and dark places she eventually slipped to. All the men she killed with her bare hands seeking some form of justice or revenge to dampen the fire that scorched her heart. How everyone she knew eventually moved on with their lives, how the world changed through the decades right in front of her eyes, but yet she remained the exact same. As if remaining the same was some kind of way to honour her coven's memory and way of life. And how in such little time spent down in Louisiana, and the people she met had changed everything.

"I just didn't find the right people to fill it, I guess," Raven answered finally.

"So you were never married?"

Raven laughed. "God no! Marriage is not really a witch tradition."

"So… Y'all end up alone?"

"No, witches love like anyone else. But love… It's very powerful magic. To give yourself entirely to another person, to even find someone like that..." Raven trailed off. "The food is wonderful, by the way, much better than the shit they served at the Authority,"

"What was the Authority like?" Asked Jesus curiously.

"Oh," Raven sighed. She remembered the Authority's grand room, watching Bill and Eric on their knees. Russell's execution. Roman's death. The sirens. Being locked in her room. Trying to escape. Eric coming back. The red woman. "It was a fancy dungeon filled with vampire politicians arguing religion."

"That sounds like the tenth circle of hell," Jesus laughed.

"Or like Congress," muttered Lafayette.

"Yeah, it kind of was," she forced a smile.

She knew she had to tell them the truth. She couldn't shelter them anymore. The Authority that kept humans safe was gone. That they now worshiped Lilith, but a different Lilith that she had known. And that Raven somehow, had a blood bond with the demon. One that she could only explain with the betrayal of her entire family, including her own father. That the Authority had put an enormous bounty on her capture, and that there were three vampires sleeping upstairs. As the sun got closer to the horizon, an internal clock started ticking in her head. Once night fell, the two worlds would clash.

"Well I'm glad you're okay Raven, and that everythin' turned out okay!" Holly smiled, passing her the bottle of wine.

Raven picked it up, feeling a pit growing on her throat. She set the bottle down on the table a little too hard, drawing attention to herself.

"Except I'm not," she blurted out. "And everything did not turn out okay. They didn't let me walk out the front door, Eric and I barely escaped."

"Eric as in… Eric Northman?" Holly asked frowning.

Raven told them everything that had happened since she saw Lafayette last. It must have sounded like the most insane verbal diarrhea she has ever had. She told them about the mutiny, the bombings, their obsession with Lilith and the bounty on their heads. No one said a word or blinked for a long time. Lafayette could not look away from her.

"Yous mean to tell me my cousin Tara, Pamela and Eric Northman are in this house, sleeping upstairs right this moment?" He asked, raising his voice.

"Yes," Raven glanced at the sunset out the window. There was a slice of yellow on the horizon now, followed by a dark blue sky.

She could see them looking at each other. Jesus awkwardly shifted in his seat and Holly took a big gulp of wine, downing the whole thing. Lafayette did not break eye contact with Raven for a second.

"My cuz," he repeated coldly.

"Yeah," she nodded, her mouth getting extremely dry with Lafayette's big brown eyes furrowing straight through her soul.

"Pamela," his voice grew louder.

"Yep," this was not going well, she could tell.

"And Eric fuckin' Northman?"

She downed her whole glass of wine, feeling the warm rush of alcohol through her body.

"In the flesh," a smooth voice came from the hallway, and everyone turned to look. Eric stood tall, leaning on the frame, hands in pockets. "Please don't stop your dinner on account of me. My food needs to eat too," he smiled with the evilest smile he could muster.

"Eric knock it off," she warned in a firm tone.

No one dared move from their seats, not even Lafayette, who looked straight down to his place. Eric lazily paced around the room and sat down right next to Jesus and directly across from Raven. Raven shot daggers through her eyes at Eric, as did Jesus, but the Viking just kept smiling. He truly found this situation hilarious.

"So Lafayette, still dreaming of me?" Eric asked politely. Lafayette didn't respond. He didn't even blink. "A bit shy when there isn't a door between us, are we?"

"Eric!" Raven snapped. "You're being rude."

"Me, rude? I would never," he laughed coldly. "It's just that me and him go way back. Did he ever tell you he was my drug dealer?"

"He sold you drugs?" Raven asked confused. Vampires could take drugs?

"No, he sold drugs for me," Eric corrected her. Raven was unsure where this strange tangent was going. Was she supposed to care that Lafayette sold drugs? Because she didn't. Why did Eric always lash out at such strange times? He was such an asshole.

"Against my will!" Lafayette finally spoke. "And yous trippin' if you think Imma do that again. I'm into a whole new business now."

"Is that so?" Eric asked with a curious smile, leaning his elbows on the table.

"Magic pays better coin," Lafayette picked up his wine glass back up. She liked Lafayette better with a voice. Whatever evil Eric did on him, she had to make damn sure was never going to happen again to anyone on this table. She knew Eric's tender side, but she very much believed the tales of his ruthless one.

"Ah yes, then you learned from the best," Eric pinned her down with his icy blue eyes and a shy smile. It was odd hearing a non-sexual compliment from him.

"So these were the right people you chose to fill your house with?" Jesus asked angry, his pierce blue eyes filled with anger.

Raven did not like the tone he took with her. "Yes, Jesus. And may I remind you that one of those people is Tara?"

"Tara ain't a psychopath!"

"That's a bit harsh," Eric laughed, leaning back on the chair.

"You locked me in your basement! I watched you tear a whole human apart like a fuckin' sheet of paper. You sent your side piece to threaten me to do your fuckin' dirty work, and then again at Marnie's!"

"Yeah, but I didn't kill you, did I?" He asked, but his grin quickly left his lips once he looked at Raven. Eric, like most beings who have lived for far too long, often forget their humanity and their kindness. Despite Raven knowing Eric wasn't all that bad, deep down he cared for others he was just too scared of attachment. Grief was just too painful. But this was no excuse to treat humans like toys - or food.

Eric must have read the disappointment on Raven's face because shortly he leaned back forward and looked at Lafayette. "I am sorry, Lafayette. For all the pain I put you through. I got you mixed up with my own problems and I shouldn't have,"

The silence got really heavy for a second, but luckily Pam and Tara entered the dining room shortly after. "Raven, I love your home. Very maximalist goth-chic," Pam said dryly. She couldn't tell if she was being sarcastic or not.

"Please, sit," she motioned to the two ladies. "Kitchen!" Raven called out as if there was a servant waiting down the hallway. "Bring the vampires something to eat, please!"

Before they eat the other guests.

The vampires looked at each other curiously, as they sat down. Pam sat next to Eric and Tara sat next to Raven, as far away from her cousin as she could, without a word or a glance. She looked uncomfortable as if she were embarrassed Lafayette was seeing her that way. She wondered what the hell had happened to Tara for her to be turned - and by Pam, from all people. A silver platter came floating with three soup bowls filled with red liquid. The bowls each landed softly on the table cloth in front of the three vampires, along with cutlery. Tara and Pam watched intently the silver tray fly away gently, and disappear down the hallway. Raven nodded for all her guests to eat. Her coven did, as did her. The food was delicious, but it was getting cold.

Not trusting the cutlery not to be silver, Tara cupped the bowl with her hand and brought it to her lips but stopped herself as Pam suddenly yelled. "Wait!" Her eyes narrowed on Raven. "I can tell by the smell this ain't TruBlood. Whose blood is it? Cause if you just tried to trick us into drinkin' your blood this dinner will turn into a murder mystery party and I'm gonna be it."

"It's not mine. I broke into Eric's stash at his apartment," Eric frowned at this. What else was she supposed to do? Let them starve? Feed them herself? No thanks. "TruBlood is sold out everywhere already," Raven explained.

"That's exactly what the Authority wanted," Eric nodded. "It won't be long until all vampires turn on humans."

"And humans turn on vampires," Holly added. "It's all that's been on TV all day. Vampire attacks on the rise, cities talkin' about puttin' on curfew, price surge on silver bullets n' all. Wouldn't surprise me if people showed up at Fangtasia with pitchforks soon,"

"Shh," Eric shushed, and the table went quiet. "There's a car outside. I thought you said no one knew you lived here."

"No one does, just my father," Raven stood up so fast she saw stars. "And he sure as shit doesn't drive."

The entire dinner party got up, chairs scraping the hardwood floor. Everyone ran to the entrance to look at the visitors. Eric opened the door with such force it almost tore it off its hinges. Raven ran after him and caught him by the collar of his jacket to stop him from stepping out.

"I put protective wards against anyone who doesn't belong in this house," Raven whispered. "Whoever it is can't see us, but you can't step out of the house. But be quiet, they may hear us if they get close enough,"

His right foot was hovering over the porch, and he stepped back quietly. Raven didn't recognize the car, but she did recognize the young red-headed woman that stepped out of it right away. She looked straight at them with a puzzled look on her face. She couldn't remember the woman's name, but she was Bill's progeny. She was there the night she killed Marnie's body. The red-headed woman paced around the lot, looking pale and creeped out. She pulled out her phone and a moment later she spoke.

"There's nothin' here Bill," she confessed. "The house is gone. It's just a dirt patch and the fuckin' swamp."

There was another moment of silence.

"What happens if she walks into the house?" Jesus muttered, looking out the living room window.

Truth was, if she got too close, she would bypass the spell and see the house and all of them standing on the porch.

"I'll just end her," Tara growled, passing Raven.

"No," Eric grabbed him cold wrist and squeezed tight. "Then Bill will know we are here,"

"Wait!" The young woman said. "I think I heard something, Bill. Hello?" She gazed through the dark, looking into the dark - but really looking directly at them. No one breathed.

Raven heard a faint whisper coming out of Holly. She was in the middle of the living room, eyes closed, muttering words in Latin. She was casting a spell of some sort. Suddenly she heard a growl outside. The young vampire let out a chilling scream that echoed all around the clearing. Three alligators had come crawling from shore and across her lawn towards her. She jumped back into her car and practically made a donut on the dirt, turning the car around. Just a few seconds later, the car was gone.

"Holly! That was incredible!"

"Well thank you!" She curtseyed with a proud smile on her face. "Jessica may be a vampire and all, but she's terrified of alligators."

The amount of magic her coven was capable despite not being purebloods always astounded her. To some people she knew, like her father, this would be off-putting. Mortals with only traces of magic in their blood being able to do this kind of magic would be instantly threatening to a lot of wizards and warlocks. Like their own magic would no longer be special if "common folk" had it too. But not Raven. Magic was created to bring people together, not push them apart. They all went back into the house and lingered in the living room.

"Bravo to the 'gator whisperer," Pam complained, crossing her arms. "Now what? We spend the rest of our days locked in this fuckin' house?"

"Is that not good enough for you Pamela?" Eric asked with subtle anger in his voice. "Would you like to try your luck out there?" His progeny did not respond.

Raven let out a big sigh. "This is a safe house that has been magically concealed, that's more than enough to lay low for a while,"

"A while?" Lafayette repeated.

"The Authority has put a bounty on Raven and I," he explained. "And something tells me that's not a bone they will be willing to give up so soon. Anyone close to us is in danger, and that includes the three of you," he glanced at her coven.

No one moved, letting the reality of the situation sink in. Was this it? They were now all going to live here? What was next? Board games and movies? How long until they started killing each other?

"Then I suggest we move," ordered Jesus. "You can move this house, no?"

"Yeah, but -"

"And we can travel via portal, I've seen you do it," Jesus added.

"Wait up a minute!" Holly protested. "We got lives here! I got kids in school, and a job and may I remind you that you two do too?!"

"The Authority will not let this go," Eric explained. "They have unlimited resources and they always get what they want. I've been fighting against them for decades and it has not ended well for me. But you four have magic which is the only reason any of us are still breathing. So I suggest you use it, and quickly."

"And do what?" Tara asked.

"What Jesus said. Go to a different country. Use the portal, if it's untraceable. Change our names, start new lives, keep a low profile." Eric continued.

"Oh my Goddess," Holly gasped, almost in tears.

"For God's sake cheer up!" Pam whined. "Louisiana is a fuckin' dump and I've officially had it! Let's go somewhere nice for a change? I was thinkin' Spain, Monaco or the Greek islands. I want my food to have better food if y'all catch my drift?"

"I can get us money no problem, I know the right people to glamour in order to get us new ID's. The main goal is to keep the house concealed and safe."

Dejavu. She's been here before. Pack the house. Move. New names. Buy land, set the house. New occupation. Don't attract attention. No meaningful connection with the locals. Repeat every seven years. Raven had done this so many times before with her coven she lost count. And she caught herself doing it sometimes even as after she lost them.

For a moment she was surrounded by tall trees again, no sky above her.

"No," Raven replied simply. Everyone in the room looked at her. "I'm not running again."

Eric walked over to her, leaning close. "Raven I know what I said before,"

"And you were right," she interrupted. "I'm not running anymore, Eric."

"The Authority will find you, Raven. They are always ten steps ahead, you don't know what you're dealing with!"

"I've made my choice," she repeated. "We'll stay put for now until we come up with a plan. We are all safe here. No one with real power knows this place, other than my father and Satan knows he won't show up anytime soon."

"Yeah, except das not true," explained Lafayette. "There's one other person who knows where yous live."

"Who?!" She asked loudly. Her house was much more popular these days than she preferred. Fucking Lousiana, man.

Pam sighed. "Fuckin' Sookie Stackhouse."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N:
> 
> hello bonjour! Sorry for the lack of updates I am still SUPER STUCK with some parts of the story. So how about you comment or PM me with what you want to see or what you THINK will happen and maybe (HOPEFULLY) it will inspire me and help me fill these blanks. Or at least tell me what are your favourite parts, so I can do more of them before we bid this story adieu
> 
> Thank you so much for reading, and thank you for all your support. Love u


	14. The Secret

Raven didn't have to look twice at the faces of her coven - or Tara - to know they wanted to protect Sookie from the Authority. Without a word she walked straight into the study and started to look for the small yellow object, she knew had somewhere. Her coven followed her into the room, confused.

"What are you doing? What are you looking for?"

"The Sookie pawn I made for Eric," she explained, her gaze going through each shelf carefully. It was a small yellow crystal. Cone-shaped? Where did she put it?

"The what?" Jesus asked.

"That's how I met Eric," Raven went on. "When Sookie disappeared last year, he went looking for her and ended up finding me, and - Ah!" She stretched her arm, went up on her tippy toes and caught the crystal she was looking for, hiding between a jar of desert knotgrass and Boreal felt lichens.

The pawn radiated warmth and felt much heavier in her hand than she remembered. She waved her hand, summoning a specific map in mind - the detailed Louisiana one - which came floating out of a cupboard and unrolled itself on top of the table. Raven performed the quick spell and the cone moved on the paper.

"Das not her house," Lafayette mentioned, studying the map.

"No.. That's a field on MacNab's farm. What the hell is she doing there?" Holly asked. "Do you think it's a trap? Do you think they already got her?!"

Raven looked up and saw Eric standing by the door with Pam.

"Only one way to find out," He told her with a nod.

And then, with no goodbye, he left.

Eric left the Blackwood house to go find Sookie before Compton or one of his little birds found her first, and hopefully, this wasn't a trap. There was no telling him no when it came to Sookie. She was the reason why she met Eric in the first place and Raven was well aware of how far he would go for her. A little piece of her heart ached because of it, and she tried to convince herself not to hurt. Raven told herself that what they had was just sex out of convenience. The deep attraction that pulled them together was just physical. She remembered the way his arms held her close to his hard body. The way his tongue explored her mouth and traced her skin. How his fingertips combed her hair. They were the simplest touches, but the way it made her feel, it was more like an explosion. She never had sex like that. She never felt anything like it with anyone she had ever been. Just being near him filled a hole in her chest. Maybe it was because they bonded through some shared trauma? Or he was just good at sex because he was a very old, very hot vampire? Yeah, no, it was fine. She was going to be fine. He means

Eric means noth-

God I can't even say it in my head.

Raven felt her face blush. Anyway, back to Sookie Stackhouse - just the mention of the blonde's stupid name annoyed her - and apparently she wasn't alone in the sentiment.

Tara ran her mouth on the fairy while she sat on Raven's bed watching her at the sewing machine. Nothing she picked out of Eric's closet fit her short and beautifully muscular frame. It was all too long on the hips, too loose on the chest and tight on the arms. They were Pam's clothes so naturally, they wouldn't fit. Raven was making adjustments to a black blouse Tara picked out of the bunch. Raven offered Tara one of her own satin dresses - she had an armoire full of them! But the vampire turned it down in an instant. Her loss, satin slip dresses were very comfortable. Outside, it thundered and it made the windows lightly shake. She liked the sound of rain, but it hadn't started raining yet. Soon, she hoped.

Downstairs she could hear Pam (very loudly) discovering the lack of Wi-Fi. That was an addition to the house Raven had been putting off for years, but she just never got around to. I guess I'm about to regret that now.

"Wait til Sookie gets here," Tara muttered, rolling her eyes.

"Can't wait."

"Lord give me patience," she went on. "Cause if you give me strength Imma kill her."

Raven couldn't help but laugh. She changed the bobbin to match the thread colour on the blouse. She adjusted the tension on the top thread since this fabric was thicker than the satin from her own dresses.

"How did you learn all that?" Tara asked, trying to change subjects.

"What, how to sew?" Raven laughed "I've been a seamstress since before the sewing machine was invented. I like it though, it makes the process go much faster. And I have always made my own clothes,"

"If you can sew that well, then why the fuck do you always wear the same shit?!" Tara asked.

"Fashion changes too quickly now, I'm tired of making a whole new wardrobe every couple years. Little black dresses have been in fashion for some decades now, so I stuck with it."

"Little on the nose, don't you think? Witch wearin' a black dress?"

"I've been living by myself for a long time now. There's no one around to impress unless you count my chickens."

"You have chickens?"

"Had. The alligators in the backyard ate them," which reminded her, there would be no eggs for breakfast tomorrow. Maybe Pam will blow up the place before sunrise, so it wouldn't be a problem anyway.

Raven continued, opening the stitches on the blouse's arm. Designers nowadays left no seam allowance and it greatly annoyed her.

Thinking of the devil, Pam appeared on the doorway. "Also, that top is Alexander McQueen so if you ruin it I'll have to kill you," Pam warned her, raising her perfectly sculpted brow and glaring with her cold icy blue eyes.

"In a killing mood, are you Pam?" Raven teased.

"Nah, that's just her personality," Tara explained, and Raven couldn't help but laugh again.

Raven hadn't laughed in a while, let alone with other women in her bedroom. It felt… Familiar.

"If I could go back in time and warn myself I'd be stuck in the backcountry with a bunch of witches, no internet and fuckin' Sookie Stackhouse I woulda true deathed myself right then and there,"

"You would have died, yes. Time travel is forbidden." Raven explained, not realizing Pam wasn't serious. The blonde vampire just blinked at her twice, so Raven continued. "It's in the Book of Shadows if anyone ever successfully performs a forbidden spell, the Circle of Mages takes you to court at the next witching hour, and I have yet to witness anyone be found not guilty at any trial."

"Ugh, what's the fuckin' point of having power if you can't even use it? It sounds a whole lot like the Authority and the stupid-ass Vampire Ministry," Pam rolled her eyes. "What else can't you do?"

Lafayette appeared in the doorway, keeping a respectful distance from Pam. "Necromancy, fuckin' with the seasons, lunar cycles, creating new creatures, yadda yadda yadda -" Lafayette explained before adding. "Eric and Sook are back."

* * *

Eric flew over through the clouds headed to a random field to fetch his second favourite blonde. But something caught his eye - lightning. But it wasn't quite normal lightning. It had different shades of violet and yellow and it was coming from… The ground? He flew faster, not even realizing it was coming to the place he was going anyway. Eric landed in the middle of an empty field, and lo and behold who did he ever find in the middle of tall golden grass.

"Sookie!" He called out.

But the petite woman cried and yelled angrily at the sky, waving her arms above her head, throwing balls of light at the clouds. Surely this would attract the attention of anyone looking for her.

"Sookie, stop!" He told her, rushing to her and grabbing her wrists.

"Let go of me, Eric!" She shouted at him amidst tears.

"What the hell are you doing?!"

"I'm getting rid of this!" She yelled. "I am getting rid of this fuckin' power that never brought me any good! It just ruins everything!"

She cried again, this time in his chest. This was not the Sookie Stackhouse he usually knew. This was more like a faded memory of a different time when Sookie had feelings for him. Or some version of him, at least. She crumbled in his arms, hugging him tight and he just held her. Eric didn't really do… Comforting. Not like this anyway.

"I only left for like… Five minutes," he joked. "You don't have to fall apart like this."

"Fuck you, Eric!" She cried again. "Don't pretend you don't have a hand in my life falling apart!"

He pushed her away so he could look at her big brown eyes. "What happened to you?"

She blurted out a long story that Eric could only care for about 15 seconds. Sookie's powers, due to her only being part fairy, were limited. Meaning one day they would be gone and she would be a normal human. Eric's first instincts were to tell her to stop throwing her power away, mostly because that would make her blood normal. It would make her lovely scent of honey and wheat and sunshine, disappear. It would make her uninteresting and just annoying. Still very hot, but annoying. But actually, he couldn't be bothered to tell her. She was no longer his problem and he learned to like it that way.

"...And now all of my friends hate me, Sam won't return my calls, Jason is busy doin' God knows what and I have a ghost in my bathroom and Lafayette won't help me unless I pay him, but I have no money and-"

Eric put his cold finger on her lips, shushing her. "Sookie, I was being polite. I don't actually care, I just came here to fetch you."

"Fetch me?!"

"You, as always, got your nose in something you shouldn't. The Authority is looking for Raven and I, and they will use you as bait."

"The Authority? Just ask Bill for help, he's the King, isn't he?"

Eric chuckled. "Yeah, he's the one after me."

"How do you know they'll use me as bait?"

"Because it's what I would do."

"Oh. Well, if you don't actually care," she mocked him. "And Raven doesn't even know me, it wouldn't even work. Unless," she paused, crossing her arms. "You do care."

Eric blinked for a second. As much as he would like to think Sookie was not his, that he did not love her, and she was no longer his problem... If push came to shove, gun to Sookie's head, would he actually fall for it?

"Maybe. But you are wrong. Your friends do care about you, and they are also bunkered down with Raven and I," He was halfway down, ready to pick her up and fly away and she skipped back.

"Friends?" She asked.

"From Raven's coven. Jesus, Lafayette, some blonde lady and Tara. I'm sure Pam will be ecstatic to see you, too." He added, sarcastically.

"Didn't you hear a word I said? They hate me. Tara won't even look at me. I ain't coming."

"Yeah, this is not up for debate." He picked her up and she let out a loud scream and started kicking and slapping him. Or trying to slap him? She wasn't very strong.

"They don't want to see me, not even painted in gold!"

"Yeah, whatever." He jumped high in the sky, and Sookie instantly stopped hitting him and hugged him instead.

"Wait. You aren't locking me in the basement at Fangtasia, are you?"

"No Sookie," he told her annoyed. Apparently his days of doing that were over.

A wave of dread just washed over him. He was about to be quarantined with humans, witches and his nest in a magic house for an undetermined amount of time. Sookie and Raven were about to be under the same roof. Fuck. A threesome maybe? No. He didn't like sharing. He landed in front of the empty-looking lot, 20 feet or so of where he remembered the house was. If he missed, he would end up flying into the invisible building and that would surely piss off Raven. Once firm on the ground, he dropped Sookie like a sack of flour, making a big thump.

"Eric!" She complained.

"Get up," he ordered.

"Where are we?"

"Follow me,"

"There's nothin' here." She cried, cleaning her shorts off dirt and getting up.

Eric walked towards the lake and at one point he felt the veil on his skin. The invisibility spell was like a giant curtain you could walkthrough if you got too close to the house. The black victorian home still sat by the lake, majestically. The yellow lights from the inside shone brightly like a lighthouse. It was surreal that he could see right through it, just a few steps back.

"Eric? Where did you go!?" Sookie called out. The blonde hadn't taken a single step. She is really slow today, God fucking dammit.

"Just walk forward," he called out, and that's when it happened.

A blur had come from somewhere in the woods and swept Sookie in a headlock, she let out a howling scream.

"Hello my darling, oh, but how I've missed you!" Russell Edgington laughed sniffing her hair in a deep inhale. His fangs came out and grazed Sookie's neck while she flailed, trying to pull away. "I have dreamed of your lovely scent for so long!"

"Eric!" Raven called out from the front door. "Don't move, he can't see you."

He felt in battle mode. His muscles tense and ready, every bone in his body was awake. His whole human life flashed through his eyes. He remembered how his baby brother died in his arms. The cold frightened stare his mother died with. His father's crownless head, covered in blood. The cold maniacal laugh that echoed through the woods right after the slaughter.

He burned so hot with rage, he could just explode right then and there. The bitter taste of revenge he had during the past year knowing Edgington was dying the slowest of deaths, trapped in silver and cement did not satisfy the hunger for death he had felt his whole life. Had he killed him a year ago, the Authority would have never hauled him, Bill and Raven to New Orleans. He would have been in this house, sure, but alone. Alone with her. He looked at the pale woman just a few steps away from him. The moonlight made her skin glow, and her hair was never darker than just now. She didn't want him to go, she wanted him safe with her, under the veil of her magic. In another life, this would have been everything I could ever want.

But in this one there would be no more half measures. It had to end. Russell had to die, or Eric had to die trying.

* * *

She knew he was going to run towards Russell before he even did it. She begged with her eyes, but it was in vain. Eric appeared right in front of Russell in the next second. The three of them stood in the field right by the clearing, the almost full moon shining bright in the clear sky. Her whole coven watched from the porch, Tara held Pam with all her strength. Pam quietly cried, moaning her maker's name.

"Eric! What a surprise!" Russell laughed.

"Let her go!" Eric roared, in a voice so filled with rage it chilled her.

"You know what? I'm sick of you Northman," he spat. "Sookie, my dear," he spun the petite fairy so she faced him. "Don't go anywhere."

Then he raised Sookie off the ground and slammed the woman on the ground. Her scream cut through the night like a sharp knife, muffling the sounds of her shin bones breaking. She collapsed on the ground. Holly and Lafayette gasped loudly.

"Raven you gotta do something!"

"I am not risking all of you for her!" She barked.

"If you don't, I will!" Lafayette threatened her.

She glared at him: he was not joking. "Pam, you can run with your vampire speed and fetch Sookie-"

"Fuck her!" Pam hissed. "Eric is about to die right in front of y'all and you want me to save Sookie fuckin' Stackhouse?"

"Can't you use your levitation spell to drag her here?!" Jesus yelled.

"Levitation magic doesn't work on living beings!" She explained.  
Fuck. Eric and Russell circled each other, waiting for the next one to make the first move. Raven had another idea, she could teleport there and back quickly. She had teleported 2 people at once just the night before. She would go in, grab Sookie, but... She would have to land back blindly as the house was invisible from where Sookie was. Well, she's done blind landings the night before too. As she drew the words in her mouth, the vampires spoke.

Eric and Russell circled each other, waiting for the next one to make the first move.

"I will fuckin' bathe in your blood when I'm done with you," Eric spat through his teeth.

"Bold of you to assume you are walking out of this. I should have killed you 1100 years ago, along with your pathetic little family," Russell said cooly.

Raven's heart sank at those words and she froze. That was why Eric buried Russell alive and didn't kill him a year ago. Making Russell suffer wasn't one of his sadistic games, it was personal. Raven remembered the killing spree she went through after losing her own family. In the middle of the night, she visited all three judges in their big fancy houses and crushed their throats with her own hands. She buried the Warden alive in a shallow grave and listened to him scream underground until she didn't hear him anymore. The Selectmen who raided her house - she butchered them alive in her basement. And then, there was Damien Williams. She dragged him to the woods and burned him in a pyre, slowly - just his feet and legs. Then she let him rot alive for two days, while he slowly died of infection. His screams were music to her ears. She was consumed by blind rage after she lost her family. To this day, she didn't regret any of it. She promised Godric she would make the men suffer, and she did. Those days were the darkest place she had ever been and hadn't she killed the men responsible for the death of her coven, she probably would still be there.

She then understood Eric's darkness. He never got his revenge. He never avenged anyone he loved and lost. That's why he was so possessive of anyone that ever got close to him. He doesn't have room for any more darkness. In a blink of an eye, Eric and Russell were in a deadly fight. They were so fast she could barely understand what was happening. Sookie sobbed and crawled on her elbows through the grass, while the two vampires tore pieces off each other. The field was getting coated in red.

Her feet were moving before she even acknowledged what was happening. She stepped off the porch towards the field. She knew what she was going to do. Eric would hate her, but hopefully, he would understand.

She felt the veil brush her skin. Sookie looked up at her and crawled faster.

"Oh thank God! Raven!" Sookie called, her small hand reaching for the witch, but Raven walked right past her. "No! NO! Raven Please help me!"

"Nunc somnum," Raven muttered and Sookie passed out right in the grass.

This caught Russell's attention. "This is perfect!" He exclaimed. "Two tasty treats! And they will taste so much better knowing I took them from you!"

Eric's eyes darkened and he lunged at Russell, who threw him ten feet over. Eric was about to lunge again when Raven took a deep breath and held her amulet.

"Russell Edgington!" She called out.

A wave of green light pulsed from her chest and swallowed the whole field for a second, like a ripple in the water. Russell's face softened for a second while he glared at her.

"Kneel," she ordered.

The man obeyed with no questions. The amulet shined bright green between her fingers. Eric stood still, watching. His clothes were torn and the gashes on his chest and arms healed, leaving dark blood on his pale skin.

Eric looked at her chest and then at Russell. He approached slowly and circled around him before glaring at Raven again. She nodded at him

"Kill the man who killed your family, Eric," she told him softly. "There is no high road when it comes to this. I only found peace when I killed everyone who killed my family."

"HA!" Russell let out a cold laugh that echoed in the woods that confused her for a moment. "You didn't tell her?!" Russell exploded with a certain twinkle in his eye.

He leaned forward and grabbed Russell's jaw with his whole hand.

"You're done," Eric told him.

His other hand flew right into Russell's chest, and out it came with his heart. Russell's body started to grey and shrivel. Then, he turned into a red thick liquid all at once.

The amulet's light ceased. It now sat on her chest as a light jade colour, not nearly as green as it was before. Controlling Russell for those few seconds took a lot of magic, but there was still some left. Hopefully, this stunt didn't curse her forever.

However, Russell's last words still lingered heavily in the air. "Tell me what, Eric?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N: The secret that Eric is hiding from her can be found in Chapter 11 (if you need to jog your memory)
> 
> Writer's block has been officially conquered! Hurray! The next 3 chapters are done!
> 
> I'll try my best to post more often in the next upcoming weeks, I think everyone can agree that fanfiction has always been a good escape from reality, and it is needed now more than ever. However, I am a healthcare worker and I'm working like crazy with the pandemic. So I hope to have time/energy to continue posting at least weekly like I used to (simpler times they were).
> 
> Stay inside, stay safe, stay healthy.


	15. The Lovers

Nora was dreading tonight’s Authority meeting. She squirmed on her seat, hoping it would be over soon before the topic of her traitorous brother and the bitch witch came up. Chancellor Kibwe was going on and on, ranting about how slowly the AVL was moving on getting the Vampire Rights Amended passed. Steve Newlin knew how to play dumb really well, and deflected all blame.  
“I’m under a lot of pressure right now!” He squealed like a little pig. “Humans being back on the menu and all, they are hard-pressed on givin’ us anything!”  
Like it mattered. Vampires weren’t created to abide by human rules, they were here to fucking rule the earth, one bite at the time. All men on the table, with the exception of Bill Compton, failed to see the big picture. It bored her to death. But at the same time, her plans didn’t progress as fast as she wanted. She wanted the world to change faster. Vampires everywhere were ecstatic and instantly on board with ditching Tru Blood for the real thing. But not many seemed interested in the Goddess who gave them the right in the first place. Nora wanted to glance at Salome’s face to try to read what she was thinking, but she was too scared to make eye contact.  
Suddenly the conference room’s door opened and in walked a tall man with bright white hair and a military suit. The room fell silent.  
“General Cavanaugh,” Salome greeted in her usual warm voice. She stood up to greet him, and so all the other Chancellors stood too. The men had a stern look on his face but shook her hand firmly. “What a surprise! So nice to see you again.”  
She motioned for the man to sit. All the Chancellors complied, but the General stood stiff.  
“Cut the crap Chancellor,” Woah. “Where’s Roman?”  
All the Chancellors quickly glanced at each other before, trying to hide their smirks. Salome however, looked very uncomfortable.   
“Unfortunately the Guardian is unavailable right now,” Bill explained, trying not to smile.   
“And who the fuck are you?” The General asked drily.  
“General, this is Chancellor Compton,” Salome introduced him, ignoring the man’s rudeness. “He’s new.”  
The man frowned and carried on unceremoniously. “Well it’s a shitstorm out there and Roman has been ducking my calls. Now I demand to know what’s going on.”  
This man rubbed Nora in all the wrong ways. The blatant disrespect. “Well, you are not in the position to be making demands.”  
“Oh, I see,” the General chuckled. “And who the fuck do you think I am, young lady?”  
“General Cavanaugh, we deeply regret that Roman is not here, but is there anything we can do to help you?” Salome asked, insisting on the diplomatic approach.   
The general opened his briefcase with a loud click and pulled out a stack of papers. He tossed it on the table, and the documents slid right down the middle.  
“We know you bombed the Tru Blood factories,”   
“That is absurd!” Whined Rosalyn. “Those factories were bombed by terrorists!”  
“Don’t bullshit a bullshitter, Rosalyn,” the General quickly barked back. Rosalyn pursed her lips and glared at the General with a cold smoulder. “The U.S. government and the Authority have an arrangement, and the arrangement is called mainstreaming. If you don’t fuck with us, we don’t fuck with you. Now, I’ve been working with Roman to protect this Authority for 20 years, but this time you have gone too far. There are high-level talks on the Pentagon right now on how to eradicate all vampires from the face of the planet,” A bluff, if I ever heard one, Nora thought. “So I need to speak with Roman.”  
The room fell silent again, and all Chancellors glanced at each other. This time, Nora looked at Salome, who looked like she was about to throw up.  
“Roman is no longer with us,” said Bill with a shy smirk. Salome’s shoulders lightened with relief.  
“How?” The General asked.  
“He couldn’t get with the program, so he had to go,” Nora told him. This was it. This was the leap she was waiting for. Why worry so much about the slow social change? Just right in front of the lion, and roar at him yourself. Make the lion tremble. “This is a Sanguinist regime now. Lilith has guided us to our rightful place and there we should lead all vampire kind,”   
The General looked confused, which delighted Nora very much. Ah, to see the fear in a human’s eyes. Tremble little lion, tremble.  
“I suggest being very careful with what words you choose next,” Salome warned him.   
He just shook his head in disappointment. “You psychotic bloodsuckers…. Roman was the only one keeping a lid on this, the only one keeping the world from sliding back into the dark ages -”  
“Roman was an infidel,” Kibwe snarled. “Who defied the word of Lilith.”  
“You strike me as a man of integrity General Cavanaugh,” Bill said standing up. “Also a pragmatist. Now, this is the situation we find ourselves in: you can join us, or not. But I sincerely hope you choose the path forward. ”  
The General let out a big sigh. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a USB pen. “We have footage of Russell Edgington along with all of you, the Authority Chancellors, eviscerating 14 humans at a bachelorette party in a bar on Bourbon Street.” Oh. Shit. “There are copies of this,” he tossed the little USB on the table. “If anything happens to me, this will be released to the public.”  
No one spoke. The situation was getting dire, quickly. Russell Edgington was just the gift that kept on fucking giving.  
“You assured the world, you assured the president that Russell Edgington was dead and you lied,” Her heart sank. Of all the ways the topic of Eric could have come up, this was by far the worse way. “So if this video goes online it will go viral, and humans will rise up faster against you than you can say molotov cocktail. And I can assure you, that we will let them.”   
“Your threats are empty General,” Nora replied loudly.   
“Are you really that stupid?” He retorted. Did this human have a death wish? “We are prepared. You don’t think we’ve been planning for this? We have weapons against vampires you have never heard of! We have built underground silver-lined prisons, there are more R&D facilities out here than I can count. The U.S government has never spared a dime when it comes to hunting supernaturals. Have you heard of witches? No? You are welcome.”   
Well, actually...  
“We own the day, and you lot don’t stand a fucking chance,” The General continued with fervour. “Now, there’s only one person standing between your annihilation as a species and survival - and you’re looking at him. So I suggest being very careful with the words you say next.”  
Silence fell on the room again. Nora looked right at Salome, but she didn’t move. She just looked down at her own hands. Do something. Say something.  
“Yeah,” The General said, closing his briefcase. “That’s what I thought.”  
The tall man then marched to the front doors. Nora heard quick steps and saw a blur past her shoulder. Bill Compton had intercepted the General by the door.   
“Oh, God!” The General gasped, startled at seeing Bill’s fangs so close.  
“God is a vampire,” Bill said, as he broke the General’s neck.

* * *

Eric looked at his bloody hand, admiring the crimson viscous remains of Russell’s heart in his palm.  
“Tell me what?” She asked again.  
When his eyes met hers, she felt a shiver in her spine. “How did you do that?” He asked.  
They stood there in silence. An ocean of secrets between them. Pam rushed to her maker and stared at the puddle on the floor. She spat on it.  
“Good fuckin’ riddance.”  
“Go back inside Pam and heal Sookie, I have to speak with Raven.”  
Pam’s face went instantly sour with disappointment. Raven could tell Pam was getting tired of Eric ditching her for Raven, but for whatever reason, the tall blonde didn’t protest. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched her coven drag Sookie inside. She glanced at them, but she knew they knew what to do. Jesus nodded, affirming they had it under control.  
“That won’t be necessary. Jesus brews a potent healing potion. It will be ready before she wakes up from the sleeping spell I put her under,”  
A moment later, they were alone in the field. A cold breeze made waves on the grass. The dirt had already absorbed half of the remains of Russell Edgington. When immortals died, it was not glamorous at all.  
“This necklace,” Eric began.  
“Has a necromancer soul gem in it,” Raven confessed. “I believed I used most of it. Not sure how much power is left,”  
“And you had this power this entire time?” He confronted her.  
“No,” she felt her face get hot. “I created this amulet when I killed Marnie. I didn’t send her and Antonia to purgatory. I don’t even know if it's possible. And if it is, I don’t know how to do it. But I knew I couldn’t let their souls roam around freely. There isn’t a shortage of people with a grudge against vampires who are dumb enough to listen to them. So I trapped their souls,” Eric didn’t say anything, his eyes just studied her close. “I wasn’t even sure it would work, to be honest. I believe humans call it a Hail Mary,”  
“You lied to me?” He interrupted, frowning, his blues eyes making her whole body flush with heat. The words cut her like a knife. She cared that it hurt him. But it also angered her - he wasn’t so straightforward with her either. “You stood in your kitchen and straight-up lied to my face?”  
“Yes, and you? Have you lied to me, Eric?” Suddenly he couldn’t look at her anymore. “What was Russell talking about?” This time she got closer to him, chasing his gaze, her chest pressing against his. “Tell me!”  
“It doesn’t matter, it’s in the past,” he muttered.   
Then she knew it did matter. Eric was not one to spare feelings, so whatever he wasn’t telling her must be earth-fucking-shattering.  
“Oh, but I think it does!” More silence. They were so close, but so far away from each other. “When we were at your apartment you told me you weren’t going to repeat Bill’s mistake with Sookie, and that you were going to tell me the truth,”  
“So it’s just you who holds the monopoly on lying then?”  
“I lied, but for a damn good reason.”  
“Enlighten me, witch.”  
Raven took a big breath and two steps back. It was time to say some very uncomfortable and repressed things out loud. “At first I was afraid you would hunt me,” Eric didn’t move, or even blink, so she continued. “That Bill would make you kill me because of it, or worse, make me control vampires for him,”  
“I would never have told him, Raven!” Eric protested.  
“I know that now,” she smiled, touching his face, wiping some blood off his jaw. “But really, I was afraid you would run from me. If I told you I had this power you would run so fast the Earth would spin the other way. And I could go on, and spend the rest of my life trying to convince myself you mean nothing to me, but… I can’t.”  
Eric didn’t move an inch, he just kept looking in her eyes with the same frown as before. But Raven had opened Pandora’s box. There was no turning back now. “I don’t know what it is about you. I should absolutely hate you, you know? I’m a witch, and you are a vampire. I should hate everything you stand for, your very presence, your cold touch on my skin should disgust me, but I… I crave it. I’ve craved you since the second I first saw you on my porch. And I’ve been fighting this thing, every time I see you. Or every time I catch myself wanting to see you. When you stopped coming I thought ‘you know what, you’ll forget about him in a year. It’s fine’. Then I saw you inside Marnie’s store and I packed everything so fucking fast, I just knew I had to come here. Which I should have never done in the first place! Any sane person would have picked a different coven. My father gave me a list of powerful covens in much nicer places, but I feel the… Thing. I feel it every time I see you, every time you walk into the same room. Since you walked into my life it’s like destiny has chained me to you, and the chain gets shorter every day. I’ve let you into my house, into my bed, into my dreams, I shared my blood with you not once, but twice. And every time I lost you, it hurt... So fucking much. But even after that, I still feel the thing. I still crave you. I looked for you in my bed this morning, for Satan’s sake,” She took a deep breath, every part of her body burned hot. “So no, Eric, I couldn’t just have told you I made necromancer amulet. If I told you and you left, I know this thing, this-”  
“Pull,” he told her with the same blank expression. “Like a magnet. If I lost you, the feeling would stop. And I don’t want it to stop.”  
He felt it too.  
The next moment, the world had stopped. His hands pulled her close, his lips were on hers. She felt this ethereal lightness in her heart as her body melted in his embrace. Raven could finally stop craving Eric and just have him. Raven could just give in the part of her that craves him. She kissed him back, and soon his tongue was in synchrony with hers. She felt a rush of air and suddenly the moonlight dimmed. He had picked her up and moved her into the forest, away from the view of the house. Her back was against a wide ancient tree with smooth bark. Her legs wrapped around his hips at once. She knew this dance. His right arm wrapped around her waist lifting her already short dress, his left trailed the back of her neck, holding her so still and so close.   
She felt the pull calling to her on every part of her body. Like they were always meant to be one, and being apart was chaos. Deeply, with long and slow thrusts, he pressed himself hard against her hips, making her vision go white with pleasure. Her hands lied flat against his sculpted chest. Riding closer to climax, nothing had ever felt so right, or so good. She never wanted this to stop. Eric’s nose brushed against her, and he didn’t stop kissing her lips or her neck, not even for a second. Raven could just surrender, finally. She could just stop living in suffering, and just be in bliss instead. She had enough, dues were paid, sins were punished. She deserved to be happy for once. Eric quickly unbuckled his pants and slid himself right into her. She moaned loudly If she could live forever in this moment, she would.   
A thought passed through her mind, that took over her very soul. It filled her with joy and hope. She knew what she was about to do was crazy, but it felt like the only right in her life. She activated her Punctum ring and her index nail turned sharp and long.  
“Eric Northman,” she whispered in his ear. “I vow myself to you,”  
She dragged the tip of her nail just below her left clavicle, marking an X that quickly bled down her breast.   
“Raven Blackwood,” he smiled, revealing his pointy fangs. “You want me to bite you?”  
She laughed and told him. “Yes,” she wasn’t going to bleed in vain.  
“Beg,” he whispered dangerously in her ear, threatening to drown her in pleasure.  
“Bite me, Eric,” she asked a second time.  
He then pulled her away from the three and laid her down on the soft grass. He proceeded to fuck her even deeper, making her body’s pleasure rise like a tidal wave so big it was overwhelming.  
“Bite me, Eric, bite -” just the thought of it didn’t let her even finish the sentence.   
The second she came, he sank his teeth on her neck and took in her blood in his mouth. He drank deeply while her body tightened around him. Soon he finished too, letting his body relax on top of hers. Her fingers gently ran up and down his bareback. She could feel soft scars on his skin she never had noticed before. Scars from a millennia ago, from when he was human. The moonlight peeked through the leaves above them, making a dancing show of lights down the meadow around them.  
He raised his head, letting it rest on her perched elbow. They just lied there in silence for a moment, looking at each other. He gently moved some of her hair from her face and ran his fingers through her hair. It was the loveliest dream, but she had to wake up from it.   
“Eric,” she whispered. “What aren’t you telling me?”  
Eric rolled off of her, and sat up beside her, elbows resting on his knees. “Raven, you helped me avenge my family and I will always be grateful for it. And I’d love to tell you I’ve finally set the cosmic scales back, or that I got justice, found peace or closure or whatever it is I was supposed to find, but I didn’t. I never will.” He looked at her with pain in his eyes. “I’m glad Russell is dead because the son of a bitch just causes too much trouble. But it ends there, the pain we carry we carry it forever.”  
“What are you saying?”  
“I was so focused seeking revenge that it almost killed me and everyone around me, Raven. And I don’t think it was worth it. Things would have been so different if I had true deathed Russell the first time around. Or even better, not have tried at all. In another life, I would have had you on Halloween night, and every night since would have been just like this. The Authority would have never came -”  
“I literally don’t follow-”  
“It wasn’t Damien Williams who sentenced your family to death. It was Salome Agrippa.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HELLO
> 
> I loved writing this chapter! Creating juices are FLOWING but I've had no time to write/edit :(
> 
> Also, that scene with the General was just *chef's kiss* SO GOOD I couldn't NOT include it. Anywho, kudo/comment xoxo


	16. The Vow

Raven felt her whole body shake in rage. Her mind was going a mile a minute. How? Why? How long had he known? Why didn't he tell her sooner? Why did Russell Edgington and Eric Northman know, and not her? Not standing to be still for a second longer, she got up and paced. Eric followed and tried to reach for her hand, but she quickly pulled away. She'd had enough. Raven felt betrayed by every person she knew lately. The fury and disappointment were overwhelming. She may have been lonely in the past century or two, but when you have no one, no one stabs you in the back like this either. She wanted to cry, but tears just wouldn't come. She had cried over this too much in her life. There was nothing left in her to give. Her magic was building up in her body like a pressure cooker. Static electricity popped and crackled in the air like bursting fireflies. Breathe, she remembered Agatha telling her every time she lost her temper. Agatha was a fucking traitor too. Raven was in this alone, like she had always been. Quickly she tried to put some space between herself and the vampire before she fucking killed him. She moved away from him, stumbling around the woods.

Not being able to hold her emotions - or her magic - in any longer, she let it all out in one long howling scream. The loud cry scratched her throat, and she felt the earth shake underneath her feet and the trees shook wildly. Spooked, birds soared up high, leaving the forest at once. A deep crack came from the dirt underneath her. Almost passing out, she fell onto the soft grass again, admiring the destruction. Her magic had broken the soil between the trees, creating a fault line through the woods. The ancient willow trees on the other side of the crack now stood crocked. There was silence again for a moment.

"Damien Williams was… Infatuated with you," Eric's voice came from right behind her. It seemed like it didn't matter what she did, he just would not go away.

Raven's heaviest burden was believing Damien's obsession with her, and her failure at pushing him away was what got her family killed. Which was why Eric telling her this was the truth was her worst nightmare.

"And his family was rich and powerful-"

"I know. I was there, remember?" She told him, catching her breath.

"And they owned Anubis ships,"

"Ships?" She sat back up and looked up at him.

"Anubis is a very old Vampire transportation company," Eric explained. "They started with ships and caravans, and now they have a fleet of private jets. They offer light-tight pods for vampires to travel across the globe with maximum discretion. It was in the Authority's best interest to keep Anubis going so vampire influence could reach all continents. Salome and Roman were afraid of letting witches anywhere near their only method of transportation between the continents so… Salome glamoured Damien into killing all of you, so he wouldn't propose marriage."

This was a lot to process.

"My family died because of fucking vampire ships?"

Eric had no comforting answer to this. Quicker than her, he ran and grabbed her hand. She tried to pull away, but he held on closer.

"And my family died because Russell wanted two goats to feed his wolves, and my dad refused," he told her. "My baby brother and my mother died because some animals were hungry,"

Collateral damage. They were all just fucking collateral damage. It wasn't really anything she did. She didn't fail at baking an ugly loaf. When Raven turned Damien William's polite advances down, his ego didn't consume him. Rich little Damien didn't plan an intricate revenge plan for getting rejected by a peasant girl. He was simply glamoured to do so. The weight Raven carried on her shoulders her whole adult life lightened just a little.

"How long have you known all of this?"

"Since last night, after I asked Salome to let you go."

"And you didn't think to tell me when you came back to the room?!" She yelled, sparkles firing in the air again.

"I knew if I told you, you'd have wanted to stay and kill Salome and that would only get you killed,"

"You don't know that. You should have told me." She frowned.

"I should have done a lot of things," his fingers traced her jaw. His face was so close. "But I don't regret this."

Raven relaxed her hands. She had made a fist so tight that her palms ached. They were covered in red half-moons from her nails. She remembered Eric returning to the room, convincing her to get them out immediately - even if it meant them dying a horrible death if she missed the landing. That was the exact moment everything had gone wrong. Nora and Bill came, Lilith came, Salome came.

If she ever saw Salome again… Eric was wrong. Revenge was everything.

* * *

Sookie woke up not knowing where she was and her mouth tasted like drank paint thinner. She was on a large and soft yellow couch inside a stranger's living room. Her eyes didn't know what to look at first. The large room had tall ceilings and a small crystal chandelier which matched the sconces near the tall fireplace. On the corner, there was a very large, but old tube television and all the furniture was a mix of antiques and stuff she would find in a vintage Sears catalogue. The walls were adorned with paintings, mirrors and old photographs. On the shelves, there were all sorts of trinkets and potted plants she had never seen before. There was one large retro hutch filled so filled with VHS tapes it sag the shelves down in the middle.

She pushed the heavy blanket off of her, and that's when she saw her legs and memories came rushing back: Russell had found her in the middle of a random field. Eric was there? Russell broke her legs. Raven was also there? Then black. Sookie looked at her legs and wiggled her toes. Everything was fine. Did she dream of it all?

Sookie walked aimlessly around the house. It was a cloudy, mildly cold day so she wrapped herself with the blanket she slept with. Out of the window, she could see the field she was in yesterday. Dew had turned the grass a cold shade of green, and there was red dotted across the field. Last night wasn't a dream, she was sure of it. The more she explored, the more she realized this house was much older than she had first realized. Then she felt a cold shiver run up her spine. She felt like she was being watched. She looked around what it seemed to be a tea room - judging by the biggest hutch of teacups she had ever seen - but there was no one around. The taxidermied bird on the wall was the only thing with eyes, and it creeped her out. It was like it was watching her. She walked over the next room, a large formal dining room. Then the next one was another living room - this one had no TV but had a piano. Then the next one was a large library filled with books and old dusty jars. Why does she have so much old stuff? She only looks a couple of years older than me. She heard a creaking noise and her soul almost jumped out of her body, but it was just an old radiator warming up. At least this house didn't have ghosts in it, unlike her own. Or did it?!

Finally, she arrived in the kitchen. It was opened to a nice large sunroom. The light made it feet much cozier than the rest of the house. The view out the back was also incredible. It faced the lake and a forest of willows, like a Louisiana postcard. Sookie eyed the coffee machine: bingo. Eager to get rid of the awful taste in her mouth she opened cupboards left and right before she found the coffee. She had to give props to Raven, she had a very well-stocked kitchen. Once the pot was brewing she admired the kitchen some more: the smell of herbs drying on a small rack on the wall was delightful. She turned on the vintage radio and put on her favourite station while the coffee started to drip.

Sookie started to remember what had happened last night. Eric picked her up at the request of Lafayette, Jesus and Holly because they were worried about her safety. It was hard to believe, really. Lafayette barely even looked at her during work, still mad at her for turning Tara into a vampire. Holly tried to stay out of it, but she wasn't her usual self lately. Not since Andy became the dad to four fairies anyway. And apparently Tara, Eric and Pam were asleep in this huge creepy house too? It's Bill who is after us, Eric had told her. That made no sense whatsoever. He would never in a million years use Sookie as a pawn in some kind of scheme. Would he?

"JESUS-" Sookie gasped, almost dropping the mug, but catching it against her stomach somehow. The pale witch was standing on the doorway staring at her. "You are way too pale to sneak up on me like that, I thought you were a ghost."

Raven stiffened right up, pursing her lips. She was already dressed in a black slip dress. Raven blinked twice, as she watched Sookie open the cupboard and bring out another mug. Pretending she wasn't being studied head to toe, she hummed along with the radio which played her favourite country song.

"Coffee?" Sookie asked shily.

Raven didn't budge. Oh no, is she one of those people who hate other people touching their stuff? She thought. The woman was weird, that much she already knew from her house alone. But Raven said nothing, so she carried on. Sookie opened the fridge and pulled out the coffee creamer. Raven still stared at her with a look of confusion on her face.

"Sure," she finally muttered, sitting on the barstool on the kitchen island across from her. They both kind of stared at each other in silence, awkwardly. Raven, despite having the skin tone of a corpse, was stupidly beautiful. One Louisiana summer on that skin, and she would be show-stopping. She had crystal clear blue eyes, dark rosy lips and high cheekbones, that matched her prominent collarbones. She was slender, with killer hips and boobs that were a good handful. Sookie could tell the witch didn't wear a bra either.

Raven also studied Sookie from head to toe, but her brows frowned. Raven looked stressed. Angry even. She really wanted to know what Raven was thinking but knew better than to try - it didn't go so hot last time. Sookie remembered Raven and Eric making out on top of her hutch in her living room. Even when he didn't know who he was, his body recognized hers in an instant. Then last night while Eric was having the ultimate throw down with Russell Edgington, Raven walked right towards it. She was just as insane as Eric was. Raven looked at Sookie with a certain intensity that reminded her of Eric, actually. It both scared her and drew her in at the same time. She could see what Eric saw in her, and it made her chest tight. Despite Eric being a total psychopath, Sookie felt a tinge of jealousy. It felt… Nice having such a powerful vampire being in love with Sookie. It made her feel special. But did Eric really love anyone? Other than himself, that is? The small radio in the kitchen stopped the music to announce the morning news.

"Louisiana Governor has declared a state of emergency last Friday night after a video was leaked online depicting vampire terrorist Russell Edgington, alive, at a bar downtown New Orleans. The graphic video clearly shows Edgington, along with a group of other vampires, crashing a wedding party before slaughtering the fam-"

"Ugh, shut up." Raven groaned, turning off the radio with a flick of her finger across the kitchen. "Come with me."

Raven grabbed a plastic bucket from under the sink cabinet, and a towel from the linen closet by the back door.

"Where are we going?" Sookie asked, confused.

Raven left the sunroom and headed to the lake. "To catch breakfast."

Sookie had to light jog across the yard to keep up. "With a bucket and a towel? Have you fished before?"

The witch didn't answer. She just shoved the bucket and the towel in Sookie's hand, who cradled it all awkwardly trying not to spill her coffee. Next, Raven took off her dress, and Sookie's eyes panicked.

"What the hell?" Sookie protested at the butt-naked woman who had a pentagram tattooed right in the middle of her torso. Raven wasn't wearing any underwear either. She had a beautiful feminine figure, it made Sookie look like a boy in comparison.

Next, the woman entered the water gracefully, merely making a ripple on the water. Sookie felt a shiver on her spine just from watching. "What the hell are you doing?! This lake crawlin' with alligators!"

"They won't harm me," she said in an annoyed voice. "My bond with nature tells them I'm no threat. Now shush, I have to concentrate." She explained while exploring the lake with her hands. She walked halfway through the shallow end crouched with her arms extended, almost as if she were looking for something she dropped at the bottom of the lake. Was she really trying to catch fish with her bare hands?

"If you wanted breakfast so much I could just go to the grocery store, you don't have to-"

Raven just ignored her, still looking so intensely at the water Sookie wondered if the witch could see right through it. Had Sookie done something wrong? The concentration felt a bit more like a cold shoulder. "Raven," Sookie called out. "Thanks for savin' me last night."

She watched the woman take a big sigh. "You are welcome," she exhaled.

Sookie put down the bucket and the towel and went back to sipping her coffee. To be honest, watching Raven do this was kind of boring and Sookie had done nothing wrong. Nothing! She did as Eric asked, it wasn't her fault Russell sniffed her out, and she made excellent coffee. If she were a vampire, Sookie would offer her blood as gratitude. But now Raven… Sookie didn't know what to do with her.

"Eric told me about the bounty and all. But I still have to work a shift today, I'm walking on thin ice with my boss as is," Sookie started. Raven took a plunge deeper in the water and with one swift movement she stood up from the water. She was carrying two massive catfishes, one in each hand.

"During the day?" She asked unimpressed, tossing the fish in the bucket, and started drying herself with the towel. Sookie caught herself staring again, so she looked away.

"Uhm, yeah," Sookie followed Raven back into the house. "Lafayette and Holly got the dinner shift though,"

"Will you stay with them until their shift is over?" Raven asked, putting the fish in the sink. She turned around on her heels and stared at her with a serious face. "And protect them?"

"Uhm… From who?"

"From vampires, did you not get the memo?" Her voice raised.

"Yeah, which ones?" Sookie's voice raised too. "Because I can't fucking tell anymore. Who are the good vampires? Eric Northman? And Bill - my Bill - is somehow the bad guy?"

"Bill's changed. He's not the man you remember-"

"And Eric?" Sookie probed. "Eric's changed too? Because he's still the same fucking prick from where I'm standing. And I have a real hard time believing he's looking out for me. Or any of us actually, including you." Raven chuckled sarcastically, rolling her eyes. "I'm being serious! He only looks out for himself, or Pam,"

"The fact that you are alive and standing right in front of me tells me otherwise," the acidity in her tone told her Sookie had struck a nerve. "I didn't tell him to go get you."

"Oh my God," Sookie gasped. "You have feelings for him, don't you?"

Suddenly a large sharp knife flew from the wooden knife holder and across the kitchen, zooming right past her. Sookie let out a big yelp. The kitchen tap turned on by itself, and the fish - still half alive and trashing - floated up. The knife stabbed the underside and slid down, letting all its guts fall out in the sink.

"What the actual f-"

"I'm thinking fried fish and hashbrowns for breakfast," Raven told her with a big smirk.

"Your house is haunted?!" Sookie asked.

"Enchanted," Raven corrected her. "The kitchen does all the cooking, all you need is to ask. Which is why I thought it was incredibly strange that it let you make coffee this morning,"

"Your kitchen let me?" Sookie repeated. "Like it's alive or something?"

"What's with all the yelling so early in the damn morning'?" Lafayette walked right in and sat on the kitchen stool on the island.

"The kitchen let Sookie make coffee," Raven smiled from behind her mug.

Lafayette's jerked fast and he glared at her pouting. "Bitch what?! But she just got here!" He cried. "You know what? Fuck it. Can I have a cup?" He asked nobody in particular.

The coffee pot flew halfway across the kitchen to meet another mug that floated out of the cupboard, it poured the dark luscious liquid and the full cup landed softly on Lafayette's hands.

Sookie slightly pinched her arm. She was not dreaming. Now that she looked closer, she could see it all. Potatoes rolled out from the pantry cabinet and jumped onto the island where a knife started cutting out the sprouts. In the corner, there was a basket of linens and towels folding itself onto a neat fluffy pile. Down the hallway, a broom twirled around by the front door. The plants in the sunroom had shifted slightly in their pots, stretching their branches closer to the window trying to catch the most of the morning light. The armchair near her swivelled and primped its pillow, inviting Sookie to sit - and she caught herself doing it. Soon a mug of warm coffee was back in her hand. Raven and Lafayette laughed at Holly when she arrived in the kitchen because apparently she was a loud snorer. A little pet piglet came in the kitchen - the cutest thing she had ever seen - and the kitchen served it a bow of apples and carrots and soaked it all with milk. They all hung out in the kitchen sipping coffee like they knew each other for decades.

This huge and menacing black house took care of itself and everyone inside it. It weathered severe storms but healed itself. It did not succumb to time - it only enriched itself with it. It stood tucked away in a land where no one else wanted to live because it was deemed alligator infested. The walls were full but the beds sat empty. The house was meant for a family, and a family it now had.

* * *

Sookie left for the day, and Raven and her coven spent the rest of the day booby-trapping the house against new cold-blooded non-alligator invaders. She had also transformed all her silverware (Agatha and Catherine would choke her to death if they knew) into weapons. After a quick transmutation lesson, she taught Jesus and Holly how to turn all her silver cutlery into bullets and shells, and Lafayette took apart and cleaned all the guns and hunting rifles she kept in the basement. It took them a while to get the hang of it. They transformed the spoons into everything but bullets - buttons, bobby pins, coins, even a tweezer? But eventually, they got it.

While her coven was busy with the transmutations, Raven threw three small silver candlesticks and two candelabras, a full 12-litre jar filled with dried Wallace bees, the toe of a frost giant, two tablespoons of sugar, a cup of fermented spider ale, and six molly flowers to simmer into the cauldron. Once ready, she put the potion through a colander and collected all her bees - now silver and shiny - into a box. With the right spell, they would come alive and sting any vampire that came close, each sting being a pure shot of silver. She had enough bees to certainly kill at least two dozen vampires. She carved the words of the spell on the lid of the bee box and added: for vampire emergencies only.

She didn't know when the Authority would come, but she believed Eric when he said that they would. But Raven felt ready. She felt completely in control. She had this. And all because of her coven. Her father had been right about one thing: you can't go through hard things alone. Now all she needed was for Salome to go after her. Come and get it, bitch.

Things slowed down when they left late-afternoon for work. Raven had the house for herself again. Well, almost. After eating the rest of the fish for dinner, she mindlessly walked up the stairs. She was about to go in her own room to finish adjusting some more clothes for Tara when her eyes landed on Mabel's bedroom door. Now his bedroom door.

She leaned against it, trying to convince herself not to enter. Eric would still be dead asleep, he wouldn't even notice. Was this a pro or a con? She felt her heart beat faster, her body tugged her forward against the door. She played last night in her head. It was a whirlwind of emotions. Between the secret he kept, the vow she made and everything in between. Raven knew he had no idea how important that kind of promise was. What the actual hell was she thinking? She lost all common sense when she touched him. She had fallen in… Lust? For him. What she should do was to rescind his invitation immediately and run away as far as she can from the addictive drug that was… His blood. His kiss. His touch. The way he looked at her.

But it was like she said, as her body turned the doorknob, the pull she felt for him was stronger than she was. It was impossible to fight it. She remembered feeling it when she was in her old lake, and he jumped in the water. She remembered feeling her blood run hotter when she sat on her windowsill and watched a movie with her. She remembered giving into it when she first kissed him. And the second time. And the third. And the fourth.

She made out his silhouette in the dark bedroom. His body was lying in the middle of the bed, straight and stiff on top of the covers like the corpse it was. She got closer, studying his face. The face of the man who brought nothing but fucking trouble in her life.

Oh my God you have feelings for him, don't you?

"Goddammit Sookie," Raven muttered, knowing the fairy was right.

* * *

Eric thought he was still dreaming when he woke up. He held his breath for a second, just in case, hoping the possible dream wouldn't fade away. But it didn't - Raven was cuddled in bed with him, her head and left arm resting on his chest. Without thinking his arm raised, and his fingers combed her smooth dark hair. He inhaled her scent of fresh trees and snow. Somewhere down the hallway, he could hear Pam arguing with Tara, and much to his delight, Tara talked back. This. This right here is what he wanted all along.

"This is not Sookie if you are wondering," she whispered, waking up.

"No, this is much better," he whispered back, with a smile on his face. He rolled towards her, letting her body slide onto the soft mattress. He gazed at her from above, delighted to have her underneath him first thing in the evening. "You are real,"

He was about to kiss her when suddenly the door busted open and the lights turned on. Raven sat up to look at the intruder but Eric already knew who it was before she even said anything.

"I am one hair away from throwin' that fuckin' fridge out the window! I'm fuckin' starving and I KNOW there're blood bags in there!"

"Good evening to you too," Eric told her.

"You just have to ask the kitchen, Pamela," Raven told her.

Pam pursed her lips and raised her brows, cocking a hip to the side "Excuse me?"

Raven sighed, getting up from the bed. "I'll go get it," she muttered and left down the stairs. Eric caught Pam watching Raven as she left the room, and once she did Pam death glared at Eric once again.

"What?" He asked.

"What?" She repeated."Really? Your taste in women has gone to shit, did you know that?"

He grinned. "If you could, you would do her in a heartbeat."

"Sure she's hot and all, but she's gonna get us fuckin' killed."

"No one is getting killed."

"If not her, then Sookie is. Where is that dumbass blonde anyway?"

"I don't know," he shrugged, getting up and putting on a black tank. "My bond with Sookie is done."

"Done?" Pam repeated shocked. "How?"

Eric smirked, facing his child. Pam looked shocked.

"Raven's blood," he kissed Pam on the forehead and made his way downstairs, Pam followed.

And when they did, the front door opened, and Lafayette, Jesus, Holly and Sookie all came in. What the fuck were they doing out? Did they not understand the concept of quarantine? Did Raven not put the fear of Satan or whatever in them?

"Oh, you're back already?" Raven said, putting down a tray with three glasses of blood on a side table. Tara was right behind the witch, and quickly snatched a glass and chugged it all in one go.

"Yeah, Merlotte's dead. No one goes out after dark anymore, so Sam sent us all home," Holly explained, kicking her shoes off.

"They went to work?!" Eric asked. "Are you all insane?!"

"Relax, Sookie was there," Raven told him, handing him a glass of blood that felt somehow human-warm. He felt a little disappointed Raven didn't let him feed on her. Her blood tasted so much better than humans.

"And that's supposed to… Help them?"

"Hey! I'm right here!" Sookie cried out.

"Yes, she is a fairy. She has powers, does she not?" Raven asked him, annoyed with his questioning.

He scoffed after taking a short sip of disappointingly human blood. "Yeah, powers that get her in trouble more often than out of them."

"Now that's not fair!" Sookie cried. "I saved your ass plenty of times!"

"Yeah, right."

There was a knock on the door that hushed everyone at once. Everyone that knew that they were here, was here. This could only mean one thing. His fangs came down at once.

"You were fucking followed?!" Eric hissed. "How could you be this fucking stupid?!"

"I told you one of them was going to get us killed!" Pam grunted.

"Everyone wait!" Raven exclaimed. "The Authority wouldn't simply knock if they found us."

The witch made her way past the coven, everyone but Eric took three steps back, away from the door. Holly grabbed a hunting rifle that stood against the wall and pointed at the front door. Sookie made a ball of light and held on to it. Raven looked worried. She took a deep breath and opened the door.

But instead of Salome, or Bill, or Nora, or Kibwe or even any vampire knew or heard of, there it stood an elderly man, dressed in all black with a puffy white necktie. He stood up straight like a soldier, hands holding a cane firmly.

Neither Raven or Elijah Blackwood said anything. Lafayette cocked the gun, making a loud noise.

"This is fuckin' private property, in case the invisibility spell didn't make it crystal clear." Holly pointed the gun right at Elijah, who did not look scared or impressed at the threat.

Raven raised her arm at Holly quickly and yelled "Wait! Holly put the gun down,"

No one moved or said anything in what it seemed like an eternity. Eric remembered Raven telling him Bishops usually killed anyone who made any kind of threats. The fact that Holly wasn't dead at this very moment made him question the previous warning.

"Well?" He asked, raising his bushy brows.

"Come in," She told him, finally making way for the Bishop.

"Who the fuck are you?" Tara asked.

"This is Elijah Blackwood," Eric explained. "Church of Night Bishop… And Raven's father."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N: hello sweet angels
> 
> This was a loooong ass chapter. Are we finally going to get some truth from our Elijah?!
> 
> I've been writing up a storm, and let me tell you, Black Moon Lilith will be much more than 20 chapters. I hope you are still enjoying the story, kudo/comment, ask any questions or tell me anything you are itching to see! xoxoxo


	17. The Haunting

Bill's eyes were getting blurry from reading through the stack of contracts in front of him. He rubbed his face, trying to think of something else less soul-sucking to do. Chewing his toenails would have been more interesting than finishing his revisions to the Vampire Rights Amendment appeal. It was all a waste of his time. If the General wasn't lying, soon the video showing Russell Edgington would be out and mayhem would ensue. And amidst chaos was always the perfect time to make big political moves. The bombing of the factories did speed things along, but the big wave of chaos he was looking for was taking its sweet, sweet time. They needed something more drastic. Bombing the State of the Union, for example, would be much more efficient. That would take out the President, Vice president and the entire congress. All he had to do was to put whatever Secretary the designated survivor was in the Authority's pocket, plus three-quarters of the Senate and the United States of America would his.

That would take a lot of brainstorming, but it would be a much better use of his time. Bill decided he needed a midnight snack. He remembered there was a nice-looking woman in one of the cells, with nice olive skin and smooth brown hair. Yeah, she looked like a fine meal. The sound of his phone ringing brought him back to reality.

"Bill, I am so scared!" He heard Jessica's hard breathing and her voice cracked through the crying.

"Jessica, is everything alright?" He stood up, adrenaline kicking in.

"There is something really fucking wrong! I need you to come home right fucking now!" She was terrified. "There is someone in the house!"

"Who?! Where's security?!"

"They left days ago after you stopped payin' them! Bill, I'm telling you, there is someone in the house and I think she wants to kill me, and I can't get out!"

"She? Who?! Who is there?!"

"Please help-" the line started cutting. "Bill, Raven is-"

The line went dead. He had left Jessica unprotected. Raven Blackwood was at his house, and she was going to hurt Jessica as revenge for being lied to and imprisoned by him.

However, something disturbing caught his eyes. The papers in front of him started bleeding. Not as if blood were dripping on them, but as if it were a living being and someone had stabbed it. Bill shuffled the papers quickly, unsure of how to stop it but all he managed was to spread blood everywhere on his desk.

"William Compton," a cold female voice echoed in his head.

Bill dropped his phone - and his jaw. Somehow, Raven stood in front of him naked and covered in blood, on the other side of the desk. He looked again - she had red eyes. This was not Raven but Lilith. It was God.

"You've been chosen, my child."

* * *

"Thank you for the kind introduction, Sheriff. It seems my daughter forgot her manners," Elijah said with a fake smile before looking at Raven again. "Oh, what a lovely necklace," he smirked looking at the green jewel on her chest. "Who's in it?"

"Everyone upstairs now," Raven ordered in a sombre tone. "I want to speak to him alone."

The intense look on Raven's face must have given the room a glimpse into her rage because no one dared question her order. One by one, everyone disappeared up the stairs, the last one being Eric, who death glared at Elijah on his way up.

Raven didn't even want her father in the house, she seriously considered having this talk outside, but alas, it was too late. So she motioned to the study, and Elijah followed her, taping his cane onto the hardwood floor as he walked. As soon as she closed the door behind them, he spoke again.

"When I first got your owl I thought I had gone mad," his tone was cold, his eyes darkened. "But now that I am here, I see it is not me, but you who have completely lost your mind,"

Here we fucking go. Welcome everyone, to the How Raven Blackwood is a Disappointment Show. But the shame and guilt she usually felt didn't creep in like it used to. No, there was way too much anger lately to make space for anything else.

"Your coven, vampires and a fairy residing with you? I mean, it's a box of chocolates every time I come to see you,"

"Honestly, I don't give a fuck." Her words made him raise his thick brows. "Why did you lie about my mother? Why could I see Lilith?!"

"What in the world are you talking about?" He frowned.

"She called me her light like you do. She looked exactly like me. I fucking saw her without doing any magic, any summoning circles, no bonds to her whatsoever. Care to explain?"

She couldn't really read his reaction. It was a mix of things that came out with a scoff. Or was it a laugh?

"You? You saw Lilith? The Lilith? On earth? Where?" He asked, leaning his hips onto the oak table.

"In the Authority. Who now has new management, might I add. The Book of Vampyr worshiping kind."

"Of course," he frowned. "The bombings were their idea, am I right? Those sneaky bloodsucking, conniving- "

"Stop dodging my questions. Why did you all lie to me?! My whole fucking life-"

"Marion Payne was your mother, she died -" giving birth, he repeated the same old story she knew so well, but Raven knew, in every fibre of her being, there was something he wasn't telling her.

"Stop lying to me! Just tell me the truth!"

"Marion Payne gave up everything for you! She gave her own life to create you!" He repeated louder. "How dare you disrespect her memory with this insane line of questioning?"

There was still something, she knew it, she could feel it, her intuition never lied.

"Prove it," she challenged him, walking right up to him. "Show me the memory."

He didn't move, he just glared at her with pain in his eyes. She grabbed his hand and pressed his index on her forehead.

"Show me," she asked, but Elijah shifted on his feet, trying to pull away. "I said show me!" She yelled, her throat feeling hoarse already.

The lights went out and the room darkened. She was elsewhere, in another room she recognized. It was her own bedroom upstairs, but with fewer and older furniture. The bay window with the stained rose glass detail had frost all over it. There were candles burning everywhere, lights dancing and flickering on the walls. The memory was blurry, but in it she could make out her father. Elijah had pitch-black hair, and his face was much fuller and softer. And there was blood. So much of it, everywhere. It puddled on the floor, it was on everyone's clothes. There was a naked woman on the floor, inside a strange magic key that she had never seen before. The woman laid dead and naked, with blood smeared on her skin in strange ways as if someone erased blood-drawn markings. Elijah sat on his knees beside the dead woman holding a small baby - probably the smallest baby Raven had ever seen. It was bony and pale but it cried loudly in the room. Elijah just rocked it back and forth, completely detached to everything that was happening around him. He was crying too. Raven tried to focus on the dead woman but the memory was quickly fading away. Laying down on her back was a person Raven did not recognize. She didn't quite look like Raven, or like the demon woman she saw at the Authority - she got closer, trying to read the smudged symbols on the stranger's body.

The vision ended and she was back downstairs with her father in the study.

Unable to say anything, she just stood there, drowning in her own grief. Her father's hand touched her face foreignly. Comforting her was not something he had ever done. Hell, standing too close was not even in his nature. He always kept a physical distance from her. The vision still played in her head like an echo. It felt like an odd dream. She spent all her youth hearing from strangers how much she looked like Marion, but she never had actually seen her. But now that she had… She wasn't so sure. The woman was beautiful, she had dark brown hair and fair skin. Maybe because she was already dead, she looked different somehow.

Elijah's eyes landed on her necklace again, and curiously he touched the stone, his features softening for a second. Raven grew uncomfortable with her father grasping the necromancy amulet tight in his hands. She could tell he knew what it was, and exactly what it did - all while she had vampires upstairs. She backed away, letting the stone hit her chest again, free from his greedy fingers.

"This makes no sense. What the hell did I see? The markings, that woman-"

"The markings were to help bring you to this world. And the woman was Marion, your mother. I miss her every single day since the night you were born Raven. You turned out to look a bit more like my own mother, but sometimes when you are angry you look and sound just like Marion," was this why he constantly fought with her then? "Of course, I could never show you what she looked like because the photograph didn't exist back then, and portraits were done just for the rich which we weren't at the time. And I am not fond of memory sharing. Dwelling on the past is pointless, as I've told you a million times,"

Why not share happy memories of her? Why was this the first time she had ever seen her mother in her life?! And why did he burn her body afterwards? He stole the chance of ever meeting Marion, until just now. More and more questions were buzzing in her head.

"That still doesn't explain why vampires need her blood to see her, and I don't. Demon magic doesn't work like that, not in any book I've ever read,"

"Lilith isn't a demon, Raven. She is the mother of demons but isn't one herself. She has created them as She created us, vampires and werewolves,"

"So demonology principles don't apply?

"No,"

"And her blood is some kind of weapon?"

"A weapon?" He repeated, confused.

"That's what Alexander Randall called it. I mean, what do we even do with it? Why does Alexander Randall want it?"

Elijah frowned again. "What does Randall have to do with it?"

"He asked me to steal a weapon from the Authority. Told me it was our birthright to have it."

Elijah started pacing around the giant oak table. "Our - That nosy bastard can't keep out of my way for once can he?"

And for the next act, 493 things Elijah Blackwood hates about Alexander Randall.

"Well it doesn't matter, it's deep in the Authority bunker and it will just be a matter of time until the Chancellors drink it all,"

"Drink it all?! THEY'VE BEEN DRINKING IT?!" His voice raised to a tone she had never heard him use.

"And I bet the one who drinks it all will be that cunt, Salome Agrippa, too," Raven said her name with such anger, she could feel sparks crackling the air. "Did you know she was the one responsible for the death of my coven? She glamoured Daniel Williams to do so. Something about wanting to protect the vampire fleet of ships,"

Elijah straightened up. "Then what are you going to do about it?"

"There isn't anything I can do, is there?!" She cried, looking away bitterly. Eric had taken the opportunity from her.

"You know there is," Elijah told her, eyes shining darkly. "Raven? Look at me. What do you want?"

"What do I want?" She asked, confused. Never in her life, Elijah had asked what she wanted. In her life, it had always been about what he wanted.

"What do you want?" He repeated the question. "Not what you think I want, not what you think your coven wants, or what Agatha would have wanted. What do you want?"

Raven had to blink twice to make sure she wasn't dreaming. She was in disbelief at the words that came out of her father's mouth. For her own surprise, she answered immediately, like a reflex. "I want to destroy the Vampire Authority."

* * *

"Explain to me again, what the fuck are we still doin' here?" Pam asked, sprawled on his bed. She had been rambling, but Eric paid no attention. By his calculations, his room was right above the study, and he could faintly hear the conversation happening down below if he stood by the fireplace.

"Eavesdropping, now be quiet." He ordered.

Pam grunted. "No Eric! I mean in this creepy ass house. Why the hell are we still hanging out with these losers? You have like, three safe houses that I know of,"

From downstairs all he could hear was Elijah saying Lilith's name. What about Lilith?! Goddamit Pamela.

"I mean, do you really want to play cribbage and watch lame-ass DVDs forever? And what the fuck happens when we run out of blood? Tara is just a baby, she gotta eat and she ain't feeding on no witch blood. I commanded her not to,"

"Tell her to feed on Sookie or something, now shut it."

Show me! He could hear Raven yelling. Show her what?!

"Okay, no." Pamela protested sitting up. "Who the fuck are you and what have you done to Eric Northman?!"

Everything downstairs went quiet. Eric sighed, frustrated his progeny wouldn't shut the fuck up. "What Pam?!"

"Last night you told me to heal Sookie Stackhouse, and now you're tellin' me Tara can have her fairy blood. You've been obsessed with the cunt for three years now, the Eric I remember would never in a million years share his toy with anybody."

"I got a more interesting toy, now shut the fuck up before I literally shove your foot down your throat."

Pam huffed, crossing her long legs and slumping on her elbows, watching him trying to catch the words that barely escaped the room underneath them.

They've been drinking it?! Elijah said loud and clear. Oh yeah, Raven is telling her father everything alright. Oh, shit was going to hit the fan, he just knew it. But what was going to happen next? Eric was always so good at deciphering other people's motives and what made them tick. That's how he was always three steps ahead. But with Elijah Blackwood… He had no idea what he wanted. The man didn't strike him to be a loving father. Raven didn't talk about it, and he didn't ask. Maybe he should.

"Maybe she's put a spell on you," Pam said simply.

This broke his concentration altogether. "What?"

"It never occurred to you that maybe this growing obsession with her was a spell that she put on you?"

The pull. No. He felt this fascination for her since he had laid eyes on her, but he didn't quite know how to explain it to Pam. Nor did he have to explain himself to her, but he knew that if he didn't tell her something, she would pester him literally forever.

"Roman Zimojic was murdered in a coup by Russell Edgington,"

"What? The Guardian is dead?!" Her eyes widened.

Eric told her everything. About Bill, Salome and Nora, the Sanguinistas and the Book of Vampyr. About the bombings and their sacred blood of Lilith. "And somehow, Lilith and Raven are connected. The bounty on my head is not because I'm fucking awesome, it's because I took Raven away from them."

"All of this because of a fuckin' book?" Pam told him seriously. "You know what the worst part of bein' an immortal is? Watching history repeat itself, over and over again."

"Maybe vampires are just as retarded as humans are," Eric told her.

After a long pause, Pam told him simply. "So kill her."

"Salome? It's not worth the risk."

"No, kill Raven. The ultimate power move," Pam said with a disgusting smile on her face.

Before he even knew what he was doing, his hand was on her throat and Pam's feet were off the ground. His fangs never came down so quickly. He imagined holding Raven's lifeless body in his arms, and he felt a dark force within him so powerful it actually frightened him. After everything they had been through, the thought of using Raven as a pawn… He couldn't. He wouldn't.

"Never," he whispered, looking at her face closely. He could feel his whole body vibrate with rage. "Say that again."

* * *

Raven called everyone back downstairs, and one by one they entered the living room. It was odd seeing her house crowded like this, but she liked it. She could get used to it.

"I have come up with a plan," she announced. "Running away is not an option. You four only have about 60 more human years left to live and I don't want you to waste it in hiding. You signed up to live a life of magic, not to become fugitives of the Authority," Holly seemed very relieved, but no one else did. Raven turned on the television, and the news popped up on the tube screen. The anchorman talked about vampire attacks on the rise. Raven nodded again and changed to the next channel: A town in North Dakota had just gotten the 'clear' to shoot to kill every vampire on the spot since vampires had become increasingly violent. Next channel: Louisiana Governor Truman Burrell was going to implement a curfew for vampires. On the next channel, something completely different: A Senator brought back the appeal on the Vampire Rights Bill to be voted on, in exchange for vampires to be studied by scientists - a proposal that would be brought forward at the State of the Union. "The Authority has created a world I don't want you or I to live in. So tonight, we end this."

"How?" Asked Jesus eagerly.

"Some of us will stay here and cause a distraction, drawing out as many Authority personnel out of the Authority bunker. The others will go with me to the Authority via portal and kill everyone in it. Tonight, the Vampire Authority will cease to exist."

"Join us," said Elijah stepping forward. "And let's put an end to the vampire era."

"I'm in," Jesus said boldly, stepping in.

"What are you doing? No, you ain't. Do you wanna die?! Cause all I heard was two different ways of dyin'." Lafayette protested.

"I don't want to run away, Lafayette. I want to spend the rest of my life with you, but I want that life to be on our terms. Not on the Authority's, or the Governor's."

"He's right," Holly agreed. "The Goddess' have been on our side for every single hard thing I've had to do, and She will be with us tonight too."

"You had me on killin' those assholes," Pam said loudly.

This clearly caught Eric off guard. Raven looked at him deeply. She knew he wouldn't want this. Going back, getting anywhere near Lilith. And as much as she liked having her house full of people, she knew this is not the life Eric wanted.

"Not Nora," he warned her.

"Okay, not Nora." Raven agreed.

"Who the fuck is Nora?" Pam asked, but Eric ignored her.

"What about Bill?!" Sookie asked.

"Come," Eric told her. "And remind him of who he is."

Sookie nodded. It seemed everyone was in, one way or another.

"Alright everyone, here's what we are going to do," Raven told them the entire plan.

Holly and Lafayette were going to stay in the house and perform a good old fashion witch's ladder. Holly had kids to live for, and Lafayette was a wicked medium, so he had to stay. They would send spirits to haunt Bill Compton's house, enough to put the fear of Satan on Jessica Hamby, Bill's progeny. They would make it look like it was Raven's doing. Jessica, scared, would call Bill, alerting the Authority of Raven's location.

Elijah's birds would surveil the outside traffic of the Authority's bunker and once their troops left and got far away enough to buy them some time, Elijah, Raven, Eric, Sookie, Jesus, Pam and Tara would portal right in the heart of the Headquarters and kill every single guard, officer and Chancellor - with the exception of Bill Compton and Nora Gainesborough. As for Lilith's blood, Raven was going to flush that shit right down the toilet. Absolutely no one, vampire or wizard, would have it. Then, they would portal their way home.

Raven set up the circle and explained to Holly and Lafayette in detail how the spell would go. She also told them in private what would happen in case they didn't make it back. She gave them the code for the vault in the basement which was filled with gold and money. Lafayette didn't want to hear it, and he swore if anything were to happen that he would summon "their ass to earth every single day and force them to watch daytime television". She gave them Lucifer to help channel the necessary magic, since hauntings required a great deal of magic energy and she didn't have a sacrificial goat in hand. Familiars were good amplifiers of power, and as long as Raven lived, little Luci would be their antenna. Tonight's full moon would help too.

They started the haunting right at the witching hour. Holly and Lafayette held hands sitting in the fourth magic circle drawn in salt on the ground, surrounded by candles in the living room. She could feel their magic on her skin, giving her all sorts of goosebumps. They were performing the haunting to put all other hauntings to shame. Jessica would not be physically harmed per se, but she would be terrified for life. Elijah stood outside in the middle of the field, a hawk sitting on his shoulders. All sorts of birds swarm outside, and it was so dense she could barely see the cold moon. The birds chirped in a chilling choir that echoed across the lake and back. It looked like a scene straight out of a Hitchcock movie. Her father didn't have one familiar per se. He somehow bonded to all birds of prey - it spoke volumes of his power.

"Are you sure of this, Raven?" Eric asked her, standing closely behind her. She could feel her skin tingle from his breath alone.

"I've never been so sure in my life," she whispered.

"And Lilith? Are you sure you are ready to face mommy?"

Raven's stomach suddenly did a flip. "I was wrong," she told him, fighting every instinct in her body. Elijah was still hiding something from her. "I have nothing to do with her,"

"Right, so she's just your long lost twin who has nothing to do with you?" He asked in a sarcastic tone. Raven didn't answer because she knew he was right. And she hated that Eric was right. "Are you sure you can trust him?" He glanced at Elijah through the window, barely visible in the storm of birds.

"My own father, you mean?" She turned around, getting offended at the question.

Eric said nothing at this, just frowned with his intense blue eyes. Suddenly the birds outside went quiet. They dispersed in a matter of seconds and the night stood still again. Only Holly and Lafayette whispered the summoning in perfect harmony. Elijah walked back inside and summoned all at once.

"They are on their way. About 40 vampires have left the bunker in 13 different vehicles and are on their way to the King's house. It's time."

Jesus, Sookie and Tara held loaded shotguns and studied the layout of the bunker Eric had drawn on a paper to the best of his memory. Pam just sat on the corner filing her nails. Raven picked up her box of silver bees, firmly pressing her thumbs down, holding the lid shut. She didn't want a premature bee release and end up harming the wrong group of vampires. They only had one shot at this and they could not fuck it up. Then, she had a brilliant last-second idea.

"Wait!" She called out, tapping Sookie over the shoulder. "I have something that might help Bill,"

"What is it?"

"An outfit change," and with a simple spell, Sookie's shorts and tight tee turned into a black lace dress.

"Why am I wearin' my funeral dress?" Sookie asked, confused.

"Just… Trust me on this one."

"Raven, shall we open the portal?"

"Are we ready?" Raven asked the group, and they simply nodded.

They all left the house through the front door, following Elijah Blackwood to the outside of the veil. Elijah gave Raven the stone and leaned forward, whispering in her ear.

"For Agatha, Violet, Harriet, Catherine and Mabel."

Their names choked her up. Elijah had never in her life approved any of her choices. But this time he was 100% behind her. For better or worse, she finally felt supported by her father. All it took was a coven of newbies, fairies and vampires to come together to bring down a government.

"Vampire Authority Headquarters, New Orleans," Raven spoke loud and clear. The blue circle opened, and Raven just ran right in.

And for the first time ever she did not look back. She knew she was not alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for reading so far! Comment down below :)


	18. The Crone

The prison basement was damp and cold. No one spoke a single word for hours, with the exception of Mabel who would sob every once in a while. Their house had been invaded, and probably torn to shreds and Raven was missing. What gave it away? Catherine asked herself over and over again. Her coven had done everything right: They lived mostly normal lives, worked like anyone else, in the hospital and the apothecary and the market. They lived modest lives and paid their taxes to the collectors. They stayed out of politics and didn't raise any brows in public. They were just a bunch of widows and distant cousins who shared a house they inherited. They never did anyone harm. No one ever stole or slept with married men. They kept to themselves and lived quiet and peaceful lives. And before townspeople got too acquainted with their presence, they left and started over elsewhere. The next stop was going to be Nova Scotia up the coast, where some of Mabel's blood family had settled.

But from where she was sitting, they weren't going to make it past the next sunset. Luckily, Raven had escaped. She hoped her youngest sister made it to a place far, far away. Somewhere safe. Catherine knew Elijah Blackwood would put her in a good coven or maybe take her in - she never really understood why he didn't raise her himself. Maybe he was too busy governing. Or he was just a shitty father. Who knows? The man always gave speeches every Black mass about becoming better and rising above. About excellence. Maybe it was time he put his money where his mouth was. The five women sat in the filth, waiting for a miracle. Suddenly a shadow appeared in the hallway. Their necks turned.

"Et tolle animam tuam," the Bishop's voice cut through the dark.

A soft thump hit the floor. The two inmates in the cell next to theirs slumped over, their eyes were glassy, their mouths drooled, their lungs deflated their last breaths. The Bishop just used the death spell. May the Lord be kind to their souls. Elijah approached the iron bars and the five women stood up, shocked to see him there. Their miracle had arrived after all.

"Where is she?" The Bishop asked at once.

"I don't think they caught her, she was still at the ball when they came for us," Agatha told him.

"Master Blackwood, what are you going to do? You know we won't get a fair trial -" Harriet pleaded.

But Elijah shook his head and interrupted. "Has Raven ever used a killing spell?"

It was only then Catherine sensed something was wrong. Elijah had beads of sweat on his forehead and his pupils were dilated. His knuckles were white, closed in fists. He was nervous. Elijah Blackwood doesn't get nervous. The man always had the same stern expression on his face, even at the darkest hour. If he really cared so much about Raven, why make Agatha raise her?

"No, never," Agatha told him quietly.

"Not even with a small animal, or with a mortal she disliked?"

Death spells? Why does it matter? And of all things, why does such a mundane spell matter now? But Catherine knew better than to question a Bishop.

"No, I taught her killing curses were strictly forbidden," Agatha explained.

"What? Why?" Asked Violet.

"Good," Elijah ignored her. "So her vessel is still pure,"

"Yes," Agatha nodded.

"Agatha, what in heavens is going on?"

No one spoke for a moment. Agatha, for the first time in the centuries they have known her, did not give her - or any of them - the look. They all have been together through several human lifetimes, and they witnessed more the wildest writers could ever even dream possible. They survived famine, persecution, war, rebellion, uprisings, new worlds and old ones. And through it all, Agatha Beekman had been their rock. Their lighthouse through the fog. Catherine could always count on her High Priestess for guidance and safety, and assurance that everything would be fine. She had a look. But this time, Agatha refused to face them.

"You haven't told them?" Elijah asked Agatha but she just shook her head.

"Told us what?" Harriet asked. "Agatha, what in the Lord's name is going on?"

Agatha looked at the floor and at this, Catherine was taken over by fear.

"Raven was not born, she was created," Elijah said proudly.

The four women looked at each other, confused. What is he talking about? Raven was created? As creating a new being, that kind of creating? Witches and warlocks weren't allowed to do so, it was written in the Book of Shadows - the one he preaches with at Black Mass every solstice.

"I don't follow," Violet muttered.

"Marion and Elijah found a way to bring Lilith to this world," Agatha explained. "It required decades of studying old literature, studying magic circle architecture and reading old prophecies -"

"You created a vessel?" Mabel repeated.

"Raven, yes. Created in Her image." Elijah nodded.

"That is impossible!" Violet gasped. "The amount of power required for such dark magic-"

"Required a lot of sacrifices, yes,"

"Your coven didn't die in the Simmel Rebellion did they?" Catherine asked coolly.

"No, they did not. Creating a vessel for Her required more than I bare to give most days, but I still would do it again, Catherine,"

"But how?" Catherine asked. "It's against the rules! How in the world did you do it without the Circle of Mages finding out? Why haven't they taken you to trial?!"

"Bishops cannot be taken to trial," Agatha told them.

"What?!" They all exclaimed in unison.

"How is that fair?!"

Elijah spat the words with a clenched jaw. "You want to talk about fair? I will have to kill my only child to save us-"

"No," Catherine defied him. "You are killing your child to save yourself-"

The Bishop banged on the cell door, making a loud noise. "Raven will save us all. You'll see! She will clean this earth of everyone and everything that wronged us. Our kind won't have to fight for our right to exist anymore. We won't have to live in the shadows,"

"That's what you said when you dragged all of us to move to the New World! But mortals still hunt us, Elijah! How many hundreds have died in Salem this century alone?! How many more will have to die?!"

"Five." He said cooly looking at the women standing at the cell. "I have gone too far to only come this far. We are so close to salvation. After tonight, we will be free."

"Tonight?" Mabel asked.

"Yes, I believe the prophecy will fulfill tonight," his blue eyes shined in the dark as he recited the words.

"Prophecy? Says who?!" Harriet asked.

"It is written in the Book of Prophecies,"

This nightmare only gets worse.

"Are you mad? That book was written by a bunch of drunk idiots trying to make a name for themselves centuries ago! Literally not a single one has ever come true. They might as well just be lullabies."

"At cold Moon, when the blood of Her covenant is spilled, an immortal shall take Her vessel to the light and She will rise again."

"No," Violet protested. "You are mad!"

"This one is true," Elijah barked. "It has to be."

And then Elijah disappeared. He was a mad man. How could Agatha be stupid enough to believe this man? No one said a word for a moment, taking in what the man outside their cell just told them. Catherine felt a wave of deep anger burn her chest. She spent most of the evening scared of the trial at mortal court, fearing she wouldn't get a fair judgement but this whole time - her whole life - she had already been sentenced to death by the very person she admired and trusted most in the whole world.

"Is this true, Agatha?" Violet broke the silence.

"Yes," she confessed, looking up for the first time since Elijah arrived.

"You took in the child, knowing she was a vessel?! You made us take a blood vow to form this coven knowing we would all die because of it?" Harriet asked, angry.

"I did," her voice raised to her normal, stern speaking tone.

"And you never thought of telling us?!" Mabel asked, crying again.

"Raven needed to be protected, and raised correctly,"

"Raised correctly?! What does it matter if she's just a meat bag?" Violet roared.

"Your sister IS NOT A MEAT BAG!" Agatha yelled back, angrier than they had ever seen her. "Raven needs to be a strong and intelligent woman, so I needed strong and intelligent women to raise her! Raven needs to be, if she is going to survive this-"

"Survive? Mortals can't handle low-grade demons in their bodies and you think scrawny little Raven can be a vessel for Lilith Herself and survive?!" Catherine exploded. "And have you thought at all of what we wanted? I didn't join this coven to-"

"You joined this coven to serve all God deities, including the Dark Mother, and this is exactly what you will be doing."

They argued for what seemed like hours, but it was useless. Agatha was dead set on what she had done. She loved Raven like it was her own daughter. It was hard to believe that she had primed her for this of all things. But apparently, Agatha had given Raven a 'key'. A key to what, she didn't know. Poor Raven lied to her whole life. How would she know what was real, and what was not? They were still in an iron-bound cell, fighting against time, a rigged trial and a prophecy. Eventually, the words ceased and everyone went back to sitting on the filthy floor, defeated. Mabel cried more tears than Catherine thought it was possible for a person to cry. Harriet prayed quietly. For what or whom, she didn't know. Finally, footsteps approached the basement door and the heavy metal bolt unlocked it. Two men dragged a small body down the steps and threw it on the cell across from them. Great, another drunk.

"Agatha!?" a familiar voice cried into the darkness.

"Raven!" They exclaimed. It was not a good sign that she was caught too.

"What the hell happened!?" Raven asked. "Why did they take us? Do they know we are-"

"Shhh," she heard Agatha. "The guards could hear you."

The prophecy not being true meant Raven would probably die too. The anger inside Catherine knew it wasn't going to be the case. They were going to die instead. Lilith would rise and then… Who was to say what was going to happen?

"Have you called my father? Maybe he-"

That made Catherine's blood boil. Elijah Blackwood was a coward. He abandoned his own daughter to another coven because he didn't care to be sacrificed in his own damned prophecy - but he was glad to have his own coven, his wife and his daughter to die instead.

"Elijah's already been here Raven," Agatha told her. Really? She's not going to tell her? There wasn't going to be much more time to do so. When she finds out, would her sister hate them? Would she forgive Agatha or her father?

"What's his plan then? Has he gone to talk to the Selectmen?"

The basement fell silent. Catherine could just scream. His plan was set in motion centuries before Raven was even here. The Selectmen were just a pawn in his plan for salvation. Catherine wondered if it was the Bishop who tipped the mortals of the presence of witches.

"He does have a plan to get us out of here, right?" No one could even bear to look at their little sister. "Agatha? He's getting us out, right?"

"There's nothing he can do," Agatha lied.

"No, yes there is!" She cried. "He's Elijah Blackwood! He has a duty to protect us!"

"No Raven, I had a duty to protect us."

And you failed Agatha.

"Then what are we going to do?" Raven asked, cleaning the tears off her face with her dress sleeve.

"There will be a trial," Agatha said after a moment.

"And then they will release us, right? We didn't do anything wrong!"

Agatha turned around and sat down on the floor, not being able to look Raven in the eye and lie any longer.

"Okay, so how about this," Raven got up, ready to formulate a new plan. "We summon,"

Something inside Catherine exploded. "Raven shut your mouth,"

"No listen, we can try-" she insisted.

"There's no we Raven, it's over."

There never was a 'we'. There was us, and then there was you.

"Catherine!" Warned Agatha in a threatening tone.

"It's not over! We can get out of this!" Cried Raven.

If she could kill Raven right now and stop all of this, she would - Good God. This is what her final hours had come to: thinking about killing her own sister to save herself. She felt deep shame on top of the anger.

"It's not her fault Catherine," Agatha whispered. "She didn't choose this."

"I didn't choose this either, Agatha," she spat through her teeth. I didn't choose being sacrificed for what Elijah Blackwood thinks is the greater good.

"So that's it, then?" Raven asked, but no one answered. "We are just going to lie in this filthy prison and do nothing, just wait for our deaths?"

"Don't you get it, you foolish child?" Catherine said, looking at Raven, anger boiling in her blood. "We are already dead."

* * *

They all quietly entered the main reception of the Authority - it was eerily empty. The conference room doors were closed and the reception desk was unattended. Raven motioned for Jesus, Sookie and Tara to go to the levels below, straight to Bill Compton's room.

"Jesus," Raven whispered before he disappeared down the hallway. His pretty blue eyes looked back. "Be careful. Take this,"

She handed him the box of silver bees, and he took it. She could tell he was scared. She was too.

Jesus put a small kiss on her forehead. "Catch you on the flip side," he told her before running off after Sookie and Tara.

Eric got ready to open the conference room door, with Raven and Pam holding their guns up high. Elijah created two fireballs, one on each hand. Finally, Eric swung the doors open only to reveal that the room was in fact, also empty.

"Where the hell is everyone?" Raven asked Eric, but he just shrugged.

Raven B-lined to the wooden doors, and as soon as she pushed them open, the whole room trembled. Sirens started to blare through the room, along with flashing lights. The Authority's security knew it had been invaded. Fuck, it's too soon.

"I'm gonna tear them all new assholes. What the fuck are they doing?" Pam yelled over the alarm, looking at the security feed on the big TV screen by the long conference table.

Sookie, Tara and Jesus had taken the wrong corridor and entered the cell room. They now seemed to have freed about a dozen human prisoners from the cells, setting off the security alarms. For fuck's sakes. Raven had to hurry. Save their asses now, kill them later. Raven pushed the big heavy doors, and the first thing she noticed was the empty case in the middle of the room. The blood was gone. Were we too late?

"Shit," Eric whispered, realizing the same thing Raven did. "Well, next item on the list - Nora. Then mass murder, let's go."

The four of them ran through the oddly empty hallways of the bunker, which vibrated through their loud alarm. Their plan had worked - sending everyone away had left them with very few guards. They encountered only a few, and Eric's fighting skills were much more developed than anyone else's. It was like he trained his whole life this. The Viking warrior ended up tearing the heads off all Authority guards and officers they encountered, leaving nothing but blood splatters on the wall and ceilings, and puddles on the floor. Elijah looked absolutely disgusted by the piles of thick goop and muck Eric left behind.

"We cannot leave without finding Lilith," Elijah told Raven.

Before Raven could tell him no fucking shit, they heard a sound. From a distance, they heard a scream that maybe had been Tara's. Suddenly Pam had run away in that direction, looking for her progeny at once. Raven felt extremely nervous about the group separating.

"Where the hell are all the Chancellors?!" Raven yelled over the siren. "Or the blood!? I can't hear it over this damn alarm!"

"Time to start hitting the lower floors. I bet if we find Salome, we find Nora and the blood," Eric told them.

The trio took the emergency staircase down a floor, and that's when the stabbing pain hit Raven right in the chest. Her legs gave out underneath her, and all she could do was hold herself on the railing, not gracefully sitting on the stairs. Something was wrong. She felt a deep, very familiar sharp ache in her chest. Eric stopped at the bottom of the stairs, but ran back up and helped her get up.

"Now it's not the time to faint, let's go!" He told her.

"Jesus," Raven whispered to him. "Something… Something's wrong," she could barely breathe.

"We'll find him as soon as we can, but we have to finish the mission first! They've probably already realized we created a diversion and are on their way back,"

"Dad?" Raven called out, looking at her father who had a sombre look on his face, from the bottom of the stairs. "What's-"

"We must hurry!" It's all he told her.

Raven had to force her body to get up. Eric pushed her along down the hallway and she had no idea where he was taking her. However, she trusted him to know the place. Elijah set three guards on fire and exploded another one. Raven knew something bad had happened, and the look on her father's face confirmed it. What if… Jesus had died? Raven felt the same chest pain when her family died 200 years ago. The feeling she was about to pass out was fading away and she could pick up the pace. She should have never brought Jesus along. He wasn't ready. This was dangerous, what the hell was she thinking?!

Then, she heard the ringing. "There!" She pointed at the third door on the right, to a room she had never been before. But she felt the vibrations on her bone. It called her strongly.

"Salome's room," Eric told them, and he kicked the door down.

They all barged into the bedroom at once. In it, however, were only Bill Compton and Salome. But there was something wrong: Salome was crawling on the floor, while Bill sat on the bed all content watching the woman writhe in pain on the floor. No sign of Sookie, Jesus or the others. Their plan was spiralling out of control.

"Sorry to interrupt," Eric told them. "But we came to kill you all."

Salome Agrippa however, looked like she was half dead already.

"Eric! So Lilith delivered Her message to you as well," Bill greeted him happily.

"Fuck Lilith," Eric hissed at him.

Bill chuckled, ignoring him. "Well, thank you for bringing Raven back to us, I really appreciate it," he said with an evil grin. "Are you ready to turn vampire, Raven?"

"Over my dead body."

"I can make that happen," Bill's fangs clicked out.

"You," Salome gasped for air, reaching for Raven's feet. "Will die, if-" her voice trailed off, not finishing the sentence.

It was too bad really, that Salome wouldn't be able to put up a fight. Raven's eye caught on a fancy wooden stake sitting on Salome's vanity. "Accerso", the stake flew across the room and right into her hand.

"And you," Raven told her, kneeling beside the dying woman, who rolled on her back, facing Raven, finally. "Will go first."

Raven plunged the stake right into Salome's heart. Her body instantly froze and turned a dark shade of grey. At once, Salome's body exploded. She felt her cold blood splatter on her legs and arms. It felt… Magnificent.

For Agatha, for Catherine, for Violet, Harriet and Mabel.

For Godric.

For Eric.

Elijah looked at Raven and nodded pleased.

"And where would the rest of our friends be, Bill?" Eric asked.

"Oh let's see, Nora killed Harris, I killed Kibwe… I started to kill Salome and Raven finished her."

The Chancellors had turned against each other? The ringing grew louder. She could feel it on her skin.

"Kibwe- You- What? Where's Nora?!" Eric asked, confused.

"I had a revelation, Eric," he told him, admiring a little glass bottle in his hand. "Lilith chose me to finish her work."

The ringing was deafening. That was it. The bottle in Bill's hands was IT.

"Bill!" Sookie cried, entering the room in her little lace black dress.

Bill Compton stood up at once and went paler than his usual self. He looked like he had seen a ghost. Ghost of True Death future. She knew the dress would bring out memories of the vision she showed him. But before Sookie could do or say anything, another voice spoke.

"Accerso!" Elijah roared, and she felt a tug on her neck. The amulet went flying across the room and into Elijah's hands. Before Raven could protest it, Elijah continued. "Eric Northman," the green light pulsed across the room and Eric stood a little taller, his expression softened a bit. "Take Raven to the light."

"What?" Raven muttered as she watched Eric. He took the stake from the puddle that was once Salome Aggripa and lunged himself at Bill, stabbing him in the leg, burying the stake through his thigh and lodging it deep into the bed's wooden footboard. Bill let out a scream of pain, and Eric tore the bottle from his hand. Sookie screamed, running to Bill, trying to get the stake out of him. Eric turned around and looked at Raven, and the look he gave her could freeze water itself. The man standing there wasn't Eric. He walked calmly towards her and got close, real close. "What are you doing?!"

A blue light appeared in a circle, and she saw Elijah hesitating to go through. I hope you can forgive me, she thought she heard him say before he disappeared through the portal, taking their only exit strategy with him. But right now, she had a bigger, taller, vampire Viking problem in her hands. Raven stepped away feeling scared, but Eric followed. Raven felt the stone wall behind her, she was cornered with nowhere to go.

"Obstupefacio!" She yelled, and for a moment Eric's body froze in place. The next moment, he pushed against the spell with such a force that she felt all the air around her squeeze her body like a fist. It wasn't long until he broke the spell and towered over her. The second Eric's hand grabbed her jaw, her heart rate spiked to a million a minute. She saw the glimmer of the blood so close to her face. He was trying to feed Lilith's blood to her.

"Eric, no!" She moaned. His hand squeezed her face harder, hurting her. She started to punch his shoulders and push him away. "Eric, no! Stop!"

His thumb flicked the cork off the bottle, she jerked her neck free and turned away. "Eric, don't do this!" She begged, but it was useless.

"Nunc Adsum, Ego autem non sum," her words barely made it out of her mouth, and suddenly she was standing across the room, free of him for a moment. But it was futile. Before she could even blink, Eric was pressed against her again, trying to force-feed the Blood to her with more determination than before. Take her to the light? What the hell does that even mean?

"Eric!" Sookie yelped and she tackled the Viking but he quickly threw her across the room.

"Sookie, get out of here!" Raven cried. "Get Bill and GO!"

Bill managed to free himself from the stake, and he went to aid Sookie. Sookie managed to convince the vampire to leave with her. Another explosion happened far away, shaking the walls, making dust rain from the ceiling. This whole place was going to cave in with them in it. Anger started bubbling through the fear. What the fuck had Elijah done? They came here to destroy Lilith, not take her. And why Raven? If he wanted this all along then why didn't he drink this shit himself? She felt angry at herself for letting him so close to her and discovering the amulet. Damn her for letting her guard down to the one person in the world who was supposed to protect her - but he never did. Damn her.

"No," she cried as her body started to fail.

Raven glanced at Sookie, but she and Bill were gone. It was just the two of them now.

Eric was way stronger than her without even trying. All Raven could hear now was the ringing from the blood, vibrating so loud, so close to her face. He twisted her head back, facing him. He pressed the cold bottle on her lips and she clenched her jaw and pursed her lips together with all the strength her face had. He locked her body in place against the wall with his own body, making it harder and harder to breathe. Then, with his free hand, he pinched her nostrils together, blocking her breathing altogether. Raven felt the pressure in her body rise, air not getting in or out of her lungs. Her heart was pounding in her ears, her mind racing to come up with an exit strategy. Teleport again, but this time go up - not so high as the last time. Runaway. But what about Jesus? Was he okay? Was he really dead? She could never forgive herself if he died down here. The look on Lafayette's face... And even if they all somehow got out, what then? Would Eric hunt her across the world with his mission? Would the spell break after some time, or only after he completed what was asked? His eyes were dark and his face was expressionless. It was like there was nobody in there. He was just a body being puppeteered by magic. Having to look at Eric like this was a nightmare she wished she could wake up from. His expression was blank. He did with no remorse. He was given an order no bone in his body could fight. Was his consciousness awake? Would he remember this? Was he trapped in a body he couldn't control? If she ran, would he stay like this forever? Raven couldn't bear letting Eric stay in this zombie state any longer. Her hand was stuck between them, her fingers jammed right over his heart. My rings! She could activate it, and her nails would pierce right through his heart.

All her memories of him flashed through her eyes. Only good ones came to mind. She knew damn well she wouldn't do that. She couldn't.

Resistance was futile. Fighting him never worked out well for her. For a second she took solace in knowing she was at least in his arms. She looked in Eric's eyes one more time, despite barely recognizing who looked back at her. Raven relaxed her body and parted her lips. The cold liquid washed in her mouth and

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> gasp


	19. Lilith Rising

Eric snapped back to reality. He was still in Salome's room. An excruciatingly loud alarm was going off, there were sounds of guns shooting and screams from a distance. He felt the walls tremble around him. Raven was limp in his arms, lightly gurgling blood. He held the empty glass bottle in his hand. What have I done? Breathe left him as a chill went down his spine. Her lips were slightly blue and her heart rate was slowing down. He dropped the bottle which shattered into a million pieces when it hit the floor. He held Raven tighter, his knees gave out and he too, crumbled on the floor. What have I done?

"Raven? Raven wake up!" He ordered. The witch looked so small in his arms, the warmth of her body leaving her as seconds went by. He shook her. "Raven!"

Her eyes opened slightly and she looked a little more alive once she saw his face.

"You're okay," he told her. "You're fine."

He bit his hand hard and put it on her lips. As soon as she swallowed, her body heaved and she coughed it all out, moaning in pain.

"No, no, Raven you have to take it. You have to heal," he bit his hand again, but when he looked at her face, he stopped. Blood was coming from her tear duct, nose and ears. He could feel her magic pull drifting. Raven was dying and it was his fault.

"It's okay, Eric," she whispered. "In another life maybe…" her voice trailed off.

"In another life," he repeated holding her body closer, wishing he could make time stop. "I would have loved you so much more than this."

She nodded smiling. It looked like she was happy to see him. Did she even know he was the one who did this to her? Did she forgive him? "Just hold me," she asked.

And so he did. He gently rocked her, telling himself she was going to sleep. Her skin felt ice cold. Raven's heartbeat was fading away, he could no longer hear it with all the noise coming from the Authority. With his sleeve, he cleaned her face off blood. He watched Raven die before when Bill had shot her. And before that, he thought he lost her at Moon Goddess Emporium. He never felt so angry with himself for letting it happen again. And not only for not being able to save her this time, but being the one to do this to her. How could he do such a thing? Kill someone who was nothing but kind to him? How could there be a spell that compelled him to do this? If he ever saw Elijah Blackwood again, he would drain the son of a bitch, slowly and painfully. He would pay for this.

Eric couldn't help but ask himself: why? Why make her drink it? Did he not know what this was? Maybe he would have to torture the sorcerer a bit before. He hadn't waterboarded someone in a while. There was no way Elijah didn't know she would die if she took it. Who would do this to his own daughter? Eric would torture him slowly, and the pain would be agonizing. He would enjoy hearing him scream and beg him to stop - and he would not stop. No, it would last forever.

Then it hit him like a wave during a storm crashing against the rocks. The deep, unforgiving cold. The awful full-body chill. Their bond was shattered once again, by a higher, more powerful blood. It hurt every single bone in his body. It was like he was being held under freezing arctic water. He had to concentrate to get past it. Then the awful feeling stopped. It was gone. It was all gone. No more heartbeat, warmth, magic, no more pull. It had all stopped. Raven Blackwood was dead.

He took solace in thinking Raven was with her sisters now, dancing in a circle somewhere in the woods around a great big fire. And Godric would be there too. He would be happy to see his friend, and Raven would tell him all about Eric. Godric would be happy Eric loved her. He hoped Raven would forgive him for all the fucked up things he had done. For not saving her.

He felt a part of him die with her.

Eric got up, still holding her body tight. He carried her across the room towards the hallway. He was going to take her back and bury her somewhere nice. Perhaps a black marble mausoleum worthy of holding royalty. He then felt a strange prickle on his skin. The hair on the back of his neck raised quickly. There was something wrong - something was off.

He heard the sound of bones loudly cracking, and it was coming from Raven's body. Her eyes opened wide, but the eyes that looked at him were not Raven's sapphire blue eyes.

They were bright red.

* * *

Everything went quiet. When Holly opened her eyes, the room's lights went all out with the exception of the candles around them. The whole house had fallen into darkness. Lafayette looked as puzzled as she was.

"What happened? Why did you stop?" She asked him.

"But I didn't," he said. "What happened to all the lights?"

The house felt eerily quiet and small. It was like someone pushed all the furniture together, or the room shrunk somehow. Had the haunting gone wrong? She didn't think so. She remembered there were guards trying to get into the house, and spirits had locked every nook and cranny shut in that beautiful plantation home. She could remember Jessica running around the house like a mad woman, avoiding the Raven-looking creature they created who chased her by crawling quickly on the walls and ceilings like an enormous spider. Holly also felt incredibly cold, so she wrapped her cardigan around her tighter.

"Lucifer?!" Lafayette called out.

The little piglet looked asleep in the circle with them. He acted as an amplifier to their powers. Lafayette was a naturally born medium, but they had to perform the biggest magic ritual to date - and without Raven or Jesus. Lafayette poked the pig's belly gently, but his hand quickly recoiled.

"He's dead." His eyes opened wide. "Shit! Did we do this?"

Nonsense. Familiar's don't die unless… Lafayette got up and got his phone from the coffee table, and quickly dialled. Had they done this to him? Or had something absolutely terrible happened to Raven and Jesus? Holly couldn't look away from the little pig. He looked so small, and its colour was quickly fading away.

Fading away. She noticed the African violets on a shelf were now wilting. The grandfather clock had stopped ticking. Holly took notice of dust covering everything, as if they sat in the circle for years. Lafayette paced around the room.

"Answer the phone!" He grunted, pacing around, looking out the window to check they hadn't been discovered. There was no one out there. "Holly, neither of them are picking up,"

"Lafayette, look -" she called him into the study.

They both stood by the door looking at the room, knowing exactly what it all meant. Raven's witch den was empty. Every piece of magic artifact, book, every bottled potion, every ingredient, crystal and map - was gone. It is exactly what happened when a pureblood witch died and their house was left to no one. Everything disappeared with it so it would never be found by humans.

Raven Blackwood was dead.

Eric dropped the body instantly, but instead of falling, it floated upright in the air and then landed softly on her feet. The more he looked at Raven, the less she looked like herself. Her smile had changed to an evil and cold grin. The creature stretched her neck and rolled her shoulders as if it were adjusting herself to its new body. Her cold smile revealed long sharp vampire fangs. She had turned, somehow.

"Who are you?" Eric asked.

The creature hissed and made an inhuman noise. Kill her, Pam's voice told him in his head. He refused to kill Raven, but the woman standing in front of him was not her. No, she was someone else.

"Who are you?!" He roared, grabbing the stake quickly.

The woman lunged herself at him, jumping high and fast. With one swift motion, the stake went right through her heart. The creature stopped, her fangs still out angrily. She looked up at him, furiously. She pushed herself off, and Eric expected her to stumble and die. The stake impaled her but she didn't bleed. She didn't turn gray or started to wilt. The woman took out the stake as if it were just a topical wound.

Next, she waved her hand, and a gust of air lifted Eric and threw him six feet back, pinning him against a stone column. She approached slowly, eyeing him as if he were candy.

The creature's arm held the stake high, wounding up the strength to stab him in the chest, just as he did to her. Eric closed his eyes, waiting for his true death. Killed by God would be a fitting end. More than he bargained for, really. He tried to imagine someone else stabbing him. Raven was gone, and she wouldn't do this to him. Eric couldn't help but feel like he deserved to die.

But nothing happened. He opened his eyes again, and the creature was still there, stake raised high. She stabbed the air, the sharp tip of the wood hitting an invisible wall three inches from his. Eric noticed a red mark on her shoulder as if it were a scar glowing in the shape of an X just underneath her collarbone.

"The vow," he muttered.

Raven had made a vow to be his, and somehow this creature was bound by it. The woman hissed and growled like an animal. Whatever spell she put on him, started to fade away as his feet landed on the ground. He walked towards the woman, and she stepped back frightened at the realization that she could not hurt him.

Nora ran into the room. "Eric!" She cried. "What-" Nora examined Raven - or whatever she was now - and she dropped to her knees. "Lilith," Nora whispered, looking down at the ground. "You've returned."

The creature shrieked loudly, but somehow it spoke in a way only Nora understood. His sister looked frightened. The woman handed Nora the stake, and Eric had put two and two together. Lilith commanded Nora to finish him.

Red tears ran down Nora's face. "Please spare him, Mother," she begged.

The woman shrieked louder, and Nora flinched and got up at once. He was hurt that she would even consider doing this - killing her own brother. But Nora chose Lilith over him over, and over, and over again, why would this time around be any different?

"That's some God you have, Nora," he told Nora, disappointed in his sister.

Nora stopped, and she looked up meeting his eyes. She then turned around and faced Lilith again. "I can't Lilith. I've killed plenty for you, but I will not turn on my brother."

Before Lilith could act, Eric shoved the creature across the room, throwing her small body against the column with every ounce of strength he had. The column broke in half.

"Let's go!" He yelled at Nora, grabbing her arm.

They both ran away, leaving seconds before the ceiling in the room collapsed. They kept running, realizing the sound of guns and screams was only getting closer. Nora was still crying, looking back at the life she was leaving behind. Everything Salome had brainwashed her to believe in was a lie. But she had to keep it together now more than ever, they weren't out of the woods yet. He was going to take her to the control room so she could disarm the alarm and unlock the elevator.

"I don't understand, Eric." She told him. "I read the book a thousand times and nowhere it said anything about her resurrection. Why would Lilith want me to kill another vampire? We are all her children,"

"Oh, Lilith came back alright, Nora," he told her. "But not for you."

* * *

Jesus led all the prisoners to an emergency stairwell. He found the key card for it on the goop puddle of a guard he shot through the chest with silver bullets. Tara was killing some guards down the hall. They took a path of no return when they accidentally entered the wrong room and found all those people in cells. Rescuing the Authority's prisoners was not a part of Raven's plan then, but it was now.

"Sookie, aren't you coming?" He asked, holding the door open.

"Go," Sookie asked. "I gotta get Bill. Make sure it's safe up there?"

He nodded pointing at a mystery wooden box he was holding before disappearing behind the heavy fire escape door. Sookie ran down the hallway but didn't see Tara anywhere. She started to panic, being down here all alone with the alarm blaring. She tried to remember the layout of this maze - it wasn't as simple as Eric made it out to be. Bedrooms were on the lower floors, she remembered. She found a set of staircases leading that way. There were blood spatters everywhere, and fire damage. Fire? She heard voices coming from a room. The second she entered, she saw him. The only person is this whole place who mattered.

"Bill!" She cried in relief.

He looked scared to see her. There was so much pain in his eyes, what had happened to him in this place?

"Accerso!" Raven's father yelled. A bright green light shined in the room. Sookie didn't know what was going on, but she had a bad feeling about it. "Eric Northman, take Raven to the light."

"What?"

Eric's eyes were dark. She saw that look before, in the vampire zombies, Marnie made in her store. She wasn't sure what the wizard meant, but he was in control of Eric right now. Eric staked Bill on the leg, pinning him to the large bed. His scream of pain made her stomach turn.

"Bill!" She ran to him after Eric ran after Raven.

"Sookie!" He held her face with both hands. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to get your sorry ass outta here," she told him, trying to get the stake off, but it was stuck on the bed. Eric really put it in there.

"I can't, Sookie," Bill whispered. "I need this, I was chosen. You have to go, if Lilith sees you she will kill you,"

"Then come with me! Come home Bill," she begged. "Jessica needs you…. I Need you. This isn't you."

Bill's face flushed with anger. "And what the fuck do you know about me? All I did to you was a calculated act,"

"No!" She yelled. "No, it was not Bill! You know it wasn't. You are stronger than this! You are compassionate and kind. You are unlike any vampire I've ever met," Bill said nothing, so she continued. "I love you, Bill Compton. I have always loved you, and I know in my heart I always will. Now please help me get this thing off you! Please!"

He shook his head. "I spent my entire life apologizing for existing. Believing I was inherently wrong. I lived in fear that God had forsaken me, that I was damned. But Lilith granted me the freedom to be who I really am."

"If your God doesn't want us to be together, then that's not a God you should believe in." A red tear rolled off his cheek. She could tell he was conflicted. "I thought pushing you away would make my life feel better but it didn't. Everything's worse. I should have never broken up with you. Now please, Bill, choose me, I am begging you."

Sookie put her forehead on his. After everything they've been through, how could he not? "Choose me. Choose us,"

He broke down, nodding. "Go help Raven, I'll have to push the stake all the way through and you won't wanna see that,"

Sookie nodded, relieved Bill was coming with her. She focused on her light. Maybe zapping him would break whatever spell the wizard did. Her light flickered weakly between her fingers but it wasn't enough. Dammit, did I use it all?! Raven was getting crushed by Eric's hand and she had to act quickly. Sookie ran and tackled Eric, trying to get him off the witch. She was their way out of here. As soon as she landed on his tall shoulders, he threw her off like a ragdoll. She felt her body land on a soft antique couch that flipped over with her.

"Sookie, get out of here!" Raven yelled. "Get Bill and GO!"

Bill let out a loud grunt as he got off the bed, leaving a 3-inch hole through his thigh that she could see straight through. Sookie got up, dizzy, stumbled to Bill, put his arm around her shoulder and helped him out of the room. Ten feet down the hallway his leg healed properly and they ran away together.

They heard a chilling animal noise echo through the alarms. Something really bad had happened. Sookie and Bill made it to the main elevator, trying to get out of this hell. The elevator took forever to come. Bill looked uneasy the entire time. He kept looking back at the hallway from where they just came from. She wondered if he regretted coming with her. Sookie was scared of what she would see upstairs, given they sounded the alarm when they rescued all the humans from the cells. Hopefully, Jesus had found a way to get everyone out of the compound before all the troops came back. Surely the Authority guards would have figured out their diversion and turned around. Finally, the doors opened and they hopped in.

"Wait!" A voice called out from the hallway.

Eric and another woman - who was not Raven - squeezed in the elevator with them. Was that Nora? Who was she?

"You are yourself again," Bill noticed.

"Are you?" He asked, towering Bill. Next, he glared at Sookie.

"Oh my, what are you?" Nora said, hypnotized. "You smell so good,"

"Back off lady!" Sookie yelled.

"Can you remind me what part of the fucking plan included sounding the alarm?!" Eric scolded Sookie. "And where's Pam?"

"I don't know. Where's Raven?! She was supposed to teleport us back to Shreveport!"

"Raven's dead," Nora spoke. Sookie's heart sank a bit. What the hell did Eric do? "And I don't know who that was, but that was not the Lilith depicted in the Book."

"Lilith returned?"

"In Raven's body," Nora explained.

Bill looked as if he was going to pass out, but Eric shook him by the shoulders. "Bill, how many bulletproof vans were left in the garage?" he asked.

"There should be at least one,"

"They will be waiting for us up there," Nora said.

The elevator doors opened and they could hear the alarm, sound of gunshots and people shouting very closely. They ran up the stairs and into the warehouse. The military was here, having a full-on war with the Authority guards. Sookie recognized a face on the floor. It was Jesus.

"No!" She cried, shaking his cold body. "No!" She cried again.

His neck had been broken. His blue eyes were cold, his fingers grasped a wooden box tight to his chest. Amidst the chaos, a van charged at them. The side door slid open, revealing Tara in the back and Pam on the wheel. Sookie took the box from Jesus, and suddenly everything shook. There was a big explosion underground and the building next to theirs caved in.

"We gotta go!" Tara yelled at Sookie. Everyone was in the van already, but her.

"Help me carry him!" Sookie cried. "We can't leave him!"

Tara ran out of the van and carried his body inside. Sookie followed him inside and slammed the doors shut.

"Let's ditch this party," Eric said, now behind the wheel. Tires screeched the ground as soon as the doors closed. Eric was trying desperately to find a way out, dodging both the Authority and the military. Sookie held Jesus's hand, completely heartbroken. He died trying to get all those people out while Sookie was too busy saving Bill. But how was she supposed to choose?

"What's that?" Nora asked, pointing at the box.

Sookie wiped away the tears and looked at her lap. For vampire emergencies only, it said. And then below were some words in a foreign language she didn't know. She had no idea what it was, all she knew is that Raven gave it to Jesus to keep him safe. Now they were both dead.

"If this ain't a vampire emergency, I don't know what is!" Tara said.

"Well, I don't know how to use it!" Sookie cried. She was too scared to open the box.

Sookie glanced at Bill, hoping he would know what to do, but he just stared off in the distance, in total and complete shock at the chaos surrounding him.

"Give it here," Nora took the box from her.

The van did a sharp turn and they all had to hold onto their seats. Nora studied the foreign words on the lid for a moment before taking the courage to say them. "Mortuus apes, mortuus apes, animari et vide, unus lamia, duo lamis, quaerens enim aurum."

Suddenly the box started to vibrate and buzz loudly like bees. Whatever it was Nora did, it sounded like a bomb was going to explode. Like a reflex, Nora opened the back door and tossed the box out. It broke open when it hit the concrete floor and about a thousand of shimmering insects swarmed the warehouse. They started attacking everyone, and Eric rolled up all the windows of the van before any insects could get it. A symphony of exploding bodies and screams echoed in the warehouse. They were enchanted silver bees. Thank God they didn't open the lid inside the van.

Eric turned on the windshield wiper, cleaning off dead silver bugs that hit against the glass. He found a breach between two now unmanned tanks and drove off the compound. Out of the back window, they could see a tower of blue light from the pile of rubble. It reached all the way to the sky.

"What do you think that is?" Sookie asked.

No one could tell, exactly. It was scary, and beautiful at the same time. A figure emerged from the rubble and flew upwards from the light. They didn't have to ask who that was - the white skin and long black hair didn't lie.

"That's Raven! She's alive!" Sookie yelled.

Eric said in a deep, disappointed voice. "Witches don't fly."

And he drove on. Was she a vampire now? Sookie wanted to ask what the hell happened back in the bunker. Why did the witch's father make Eric do whatever it is that he did, but she thought better not to. Bill looked at the floor, he looked devastated. She had never seen him so down. They drove on through the dark. Surrounding the compound was just wetlands and the barely lit dirt road they were on. Suddenly Eric stopped the van.

"Pam, take the wheel." He ordered, as he opened the door and got out of the van.

"Wait! Where are you going?!" Pam cried.

"I just spotted Elijah Blackwood in the rearview mirror," he told them, shutting the door. "I've got a witch to hunt."

And just like that, Eric was gone.

* * *

Eric saw Elijah walking in the middle of the road, from about 400 feet. The old man emerged from the woods somewhere and now walked towards the burning compound with its new tower of blue light. Eric ripped a 10-foot tall street lamp off the ground and faster than he ever moved before, he ran towards the warlock, wrapped the metal pole around his torso twice cutting off his magic. He never wanted so badly to kill someone. The man looked like he had a mental breakdown, crying, laughing and babbling random words at the same time.

The Bishop looked and pointed at the blue light, still visible a mile away. He could still hear explosions too. The two men were in the middle of nowhere, and Eric heard no cars coming from any direction. They seemed to be on the outskirts of an old abandoned industrial park. Elijah paid him absolutely no mind, it was like the old man was high or drunk, on his own doing. Eric slapped the man on his face, hard, leaving a cut on his cheekbone. It was enough to redirect his attention at the fact he was powerless and alone in the middle of a dirt road with the vampire he just tricked into killing his daughter. He stopped laughing when he met Eric's eyes. It took him everything he had not to tear his head off right now.

He crouched down, to look at him closely. "You have exactly five minutes to tell me what the hell you've done to her. Make it count."

The old man frowned. "Do you believe in destiny, Mr. Northman?" He asked calmly.

"No, I fucking don't."

The man chuckled, shaking his head. "Of course, you don't. Well, let me tell you a small passage from the Book of Prophecies: At cold Moon, the blood of Her covenant will be spilled, an immortal shall take Her vessel to the light and She will rise again. I don't expect you to be familiar with this, of course, most witches don't even remember this one. But when my lovely Marion found this on a mere footnote of the sacred Book she had this revelation-"

"You have three minutes left," Eric interrupted.

Elijah sighed. "The mortal human body can host the spirit of a mortal soul with more or less no damage. However, when even the lowest grade demons try to take mortal flesh as a host, their bodies quickly rot. Demons, not particularly far-sighted, they'll take human bodies anyway. Witches, however, have a natural resistance against the decay a demon soul would bring-"

"One minute."

"Raven was created to be the vessel for Lilith," the warlock confessed. "From her very conception, my daughter was born to fulfill this prophecy, you see? It was her destiny."

"Destiny? To do fucking what? Die?"

"For Lilith, to die for all of us. Raven brought us salvation!"

"So you're telling me that's a prophecy written somewhere, that somehow Raven Blackwood is some type of sacrificial lamb?"

"Yes! The second Marion found it, she received a vision from the Gods telling her it was true. We gathered a small following of believers who sacrificed themselves for the cause, and on that same night, Raven was conceived and born. It has cost me everything, Mr. Northman, but it was the only way to bring Lilith back,"

"Everything? Really? How very fucking convenient for you, isn't it? Having everyone make The Big Sacrifice while you are out here breathing?"

"You don't understand-"

"You are right, I don't. You are her father! How could you do this to her?!" Eric's voice echoed angrily.

The old man sat quietly, slumping down in defeat. "I felt like an absolute monster as soon as I first held her, you know? She was so small, Raven, when she was born. But she cried like a fighter, ever since she took her very first breath, I knew they were counted - and it was my fault. Raising her was impossible, I was growing too attached, I started to regret it…" his voice trailed off. Elijah Blackwood's head was down, but Eric knew he was close to crying by the heavy sorrow in his voice.

"So you gave her up," Eric concluded. "You gave Raven away to be raised by someone else."

"Yes," he confessed in a big sigh.

"So you wouldn't grow too attached to your own kid… So you wouldn't stop yourself."

The man nodded, tears rolling down his face. Eric could not believe it. He was seeing it with his own eyes, listening with his own ears, yet..

"This entire time, you orchestrated for all of this to happen. You lied to her, tricked her into coming here-"

"Yes! But now… We have been saved, Mr. Northman. The dark Mother will save us all, you'll see."

Save from who, exactly? Humans? Vampires? Eternal damnation? And at what cost? He had her red eyes burned in the back of his head forever. The sound of her high pitched shriek. Everything made sense now. Why she could always hear the blood ringing, why Raven could see Lilith without taking her blood. Why the demon looked so much like Raven, or rather, why Raven looked so much like her.

"Undo it." He ordered.

The man started laughing again. "Not even I can raise the dead!"

Dead. Raven was… Dead.

"Un. Fucking. Do it." He said through his teeth, gripping the man's knee ready to crush it.

He winced, in pain before telling him. "Prophecies can't be undone, Mr. Northman. Dying by the hand of a vampire was her destiny." The man suddenly grinned. "Why do you think I let her play with you this whole time?"

Eric let go of his leg and snapped his neck, feeling the bones break under his fingers. He craved more so he tore his whole head clean off, feeling the warm blood gush on his clothes. He tossed his head on the ditch by the side of the road.

That kill… That felt better than he thought it would.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N.: I never killed a character before, and in one chapter I killed a bunch :( the story will go in a different direction than you probably thought, and there will be time jumps in the next few chapters but don't worry, I know where I'm going with this I swear! Just keep reading
> 
> RIP Raven Blackwood
> 
> RIP Jesus Velasquez
> 
> RIP Salome Agrippa
> 
> RIP (but not really) Elijah Blackwood


	20. Progenies

Eric returned to Fangtasia, where Pam, Tara and Nora were waiting for him. They all stared at him in disbelief that he was even alive. Or maybe it was because Eric was half-covered in blood. Still, he could cut the tension in the room with a knife. He could tell by their body language he was 5 minutes early to a fight between Pam and Nora. Just in time, he thought. Because he was about to rip his sister a new asshole.

"You have a fucking sister?!" Pam asked, irritated. She had bloodstains all over her face. "A century together and you didn't think to tell me once that you have a fucking sister?"

"You are not entitled to fucking my life, Pamela." He sneered. "If I didn't tell you, it's because you didn't need to know."

"Oh, really?!" Pam yelled. "I've been your fucking ride or die for a century now and you still have the balls to keep shit from me?!"

Eric was starting to lose his temper. She had been a thorn at his side for a while now, and he was getting tired of it. "Does it look like I am in the fucking mood to argue right now? Get on my fucking side, or get the fuck out of my sight!"

His progeny pursed her lips and crossed her arms. He really took no joy at yelling at her, but lately, she had been asking for it.

"Asshole," Tara muttered under her breath.

He could still smell Elijah Blackwood on his clothes and all he wanted was to take them off and burn it. He had been played - again. Like a little pawn in a game, he didn't even know he was playing in. Elijah Blackwood had been the real puppet master behind all of this. Eric was so focused on Nora, Bill, Salome and Russell Edgington he didn't even see Elijah coming. And Raven was dead because of it. And she didn't even know why.

"Lilith is back," Nora said, finally breaking the silence. "And if she is, in any shape or form we have to destroy her, Eric."

"How?" He asked her.

"I don't know," She told him, nervous.

Eric snapped with rage. "All those years in the fucking Authority, and you don't know? All those years on your knees praying to that bitch and you don't know!?" Eric roared at his sister.

"No! I don't know!" Nora yelled back. "I read the book of Lilith a thousand times, I devoted my life to that fucking religion! If there were any mention of a resurrection in that book, don't you think I would know about it?!" She came closer to him, anger spilling over. "One drop of blood and it was all it took for me to turn my back on my family. You made her drink the whole fucking thing!"

Enraged, Eric smashed a barstool to pieces against his knee and grabbed a broken leg with a sharp end. He grabbed Nora by the neck and pushed the wood halfway to her heart.

"This is all your fucking fault," his fangs were almost touching her face. He looked deep in her eyes, studying her fear. "You betrayed me and I forgave you. I spared you-"

"And I will always be grateful for it big brother. You saved me," Nora said between tears. Save your sister, Eric Godric told him. But look at what had cost him. "But now we have to fix this,"

"We?" The stake went in half an inch further, Nora moaned in pain and he could fear her trembling under his grip. "I didn't bring Russell back. I didn't kill Roman. I didn't bomb those factories, made a fake deal with wizards, pissed off the U.S military or caused a fucking vampire uprising! You did that. So you are going to fix it,"

Eric took the stake out from his sister and threw her on the floor. She coughed a bit of blood and stumbled getting up. If she were anyone else, she would have been dead. Nora really made him question why he should trust anyone.

"You are going to find out how to kill Lilith and bring Raven back and until you do, I don't want to see your fucking face again."

"Eric, I-" Nora started.

"GO!" Eric roared so loud the whole place echoed. Nora left Fangtasia crying. But it still wasn't loud enough to drown out her words.

You made her drink the whole fucking thing.

* * *

Eric never really came back after Raven died. Sure they went back to running Fangtasia together, and most things went back to normal-ish. But he was… Off. The club opened 7 nights a week, and although it wasn't as busy as it used to be, with the Tru Blood reserves being gone and all, there were always going to be humans seeking a thrill to make their boring-ass lives a little more colourful. Plus there was now the "forbidden" factor, which always made things spicier.

There was no more AVL or Vampire Authority. Vampires answered to no one, as it should be. Even though Pam despised them for every bullshit they've put her maker through, vampire life got increasingly more complicated after the video of Russell Edgington having a feast in a bar leaked. A lot of human businesses didn't open past sunset anymore, and all of those that did make some anti-vampire adjustments, like adding indoor UV lights to keep vampires out. Needless to say, vampires weren't welcome in most places anymore.

Governor Truman Burrell had a real stick up his ass, and every week he passed tighter and tighter restrictions each month to keep "peace" and "safety". He started the Louisiana Vampire Task Force, a militarized police team that arrested or killed any vampire stirring trouble. Any vampire caught biting humans - consensually or not, was hauled into jail by the LAVTF. The IRS and all business regulating bodies cracked down on all vampire owned businesses, trying to catch them red-handed breaking any minuscule rule and shutting them down. Luckily, Eric was a genius at cooking the books. And with no Vampire Authority to answer to, they actually got to keep all their profits.

Most people took sunset as curfew, but anyone who was out at night was usually armed. They were already before, this was still Louisiana, but now they all had wooden bullets and silver spray too. The world's most precious resource was now silver. Everything you could possibly imagine now had a silver version. Silver pens, silver sprays, silver-coated baseball bats, silver handcuffs, silver chains. Hell even the CVS sold silver infused body wash - and not for antibacterial purposes.

Feeding was not much different. There were plenty of patrons who visited who were more than willing to play. And if no one showed up, there were underground "take out" meal services available - and the food was much sexier than anyone who walked through Fantasia's doors.

All of this led to a much less friendly clientele in Shreveport. Fangtasia now had a security team that scanned patrons for weapons and explosives. Painting over graffiti outside was now a weekly chore (for Tara). There was no official King or Queen for Louisiana anymore, Bill lost any pull he had with no Authority to back him. There was no sane creature in the world who would dare fuck with Eric Northman. Especially now. He was now the unofficial King to all land, as far as Pam was concerned. Everything moonlight touched was his. He still did business as usual, but he was less than flexible or generous as of late. And no one was brave or dumb enough to try to negotiate his terms. In the words of Russell Edgington - "Authority? Who gave you Authority?". No one needed to fuckin' give Eric Northman any. He just fuckin had it. And anyone who wanted to dispute that so far has ended up on a mop and in a bucket. Luckily for her, Bill never tried anything. He was too preoccupied with tenderly loving Sookie, or whatever the fuck they did.

Pam looked at her maker sitting in his usual throne from behind the bar counter. For the untrained eye, he was just watching the dancers twirl around the poles just like his old usual self. But Pam knew better. His body was here, but Eric was not. His mind was always elsewhere. No dancer was good enough to distract him, and Pam hired only the best. She even hired one from New York, paid the bitch a fuckin' lawyer's salary - she was that good. But nothing. And there was nothing she could do about it but wait. He had fallen for other women since they met a hundred years ago. Sylvie, Sookie, another chick Pam couldn't even remember the name of. See? Time heals everything. A little voice in Pam's head told her this time was different. She didn't know why, nor did she listen to the said voice. The witch was dead. A demon snatched her body and disappeared forever. Poof.

And so did Eric's sister, Nora. What a fucking bitch. Pam was monumentally pissed - and rightfully so - for Eric not telling her he had a sister. But Pam didn't have to deal with Mary Poppins for too long. Eric soon banished Nora until she found a way to kill Lilith, but they never heard from her again.

For weeks Pam flipped the channels on the TV, expecting to see all 10 biblical plagues, but there was only one thing that caught her eye: birth rate. For some "unknown" reason, the mortality of human babies had plummeted and the number of SIDS cases had skyrocketed all around the world. If this was Lilith's doing or not, she didn't know. But if this was her doing and she kept going down this route, their food supply would run short in about 20 years. Other than that, the world just moved on. Lilith or whoever the body snatcher was, had just disappeared off the map. All that prophecy business was a fucking scam. Nora didn't have to go a wild goose chase to find out the obvious.

Something caught Pam's eye from the corner of the bar. Ginger had finally shown up to her shift sporting a different look. She immediately dragged the bitch outside through the backdoor and threw her out, in the middle of the parking lot.

"Are you OUT OF YOUR DAMN MIND?!" Pam yelled.

Ginger winced and whined. The dumbass box dyed her hair black, added hair extensions and she was wearing a black satin slip dress. Just like a certain someone.

"I thought it would cheer him up!" She whined.

"Oh yeah, killing you certainly would, Ginger." Pam sneered. "Go home, died it back to whatever fuckin' colour you want, and wear your regular cheap stripper clothes! This look is FORBIDDEN, got it?"

"But it's black die… It don't come out that easy! I spent hours just bringing it from 10 to 1!"

"Do I look like I give a shit?! Do whatever the fuck you want, shave it all off if you gotta, but you ain't setting foot in front of Eric lookin' like this."

Pam turned on her heels and slammed the door shut behind her. Tara gave her an inquisitive look, but all Pam could muster was shaking her head. I swear to fucking God I'm going to kill Ginger myself one of these days. When she looked back at Eric - he was gone. The throne was empty.

That was another one of his new habits. Sometime in the evening, he would go to God knows where, and come back at 4 AM to count the register after the bar closed. Then he fucked one of his regular groupies, fed and went to sleep. Where he went all night though, Pam had no idea. She had followed him many times before, but he always managed to lose her.

"He left already?" Pam asked Tara.

"Oh. Uhm, I guess so. I didn't notice since my nose ain't not up his ass," Tara said over her shoulder while serving customers. "Where do you think he goes?"

Pam didn't answer because an idea popped in her head. Thanks to Ginger, actually. She reminded her of the one place she didn't look.

"Hold down the fort, I'm going out for a bit," Pam told her, leaving again.

"The fuck you are!" Tara cried. "And leave me alone workin'? Ginger was supposed to help me! Pam!"

* * *

The black house still sat by the lake which surprised Pam, for whatever reason. But it looked very different than before. If the house gave her the creeps then, it had nothing on how it looked now. It really gave The Haunted Mansion a run for its money. The rose bushes surrounding the porch were dead and dried. The roof was caving in, with several shingles missing. Half of the window panes were broken or fractured. Several shutters were scattered on the overgrown dead lawn. Pam carefully stepped up the porch, trying to avoid the holes on the wood floor.

Inside the house it was dark, and it was much smaller than she remembered. It somehow looked emptier and more crowded at the same time. The wallpaper was peeling off the walls, termites crawled on the old banister at the bottom of the stairs. There was dirt, dust and webs covering everything. There were dead leaves and bugs accumulated on the corners. The place was just… Dead. It didn't have the sparkle of magic or that odd comforting feeling like it used to have. It was forgotten. She walked by what she remembered the study was: it was completely empty. Not even a single piece of furniture was left in it. Someone had emptied it.

Once she arrived in the kitchen she found what she was looking for: Eric.

He was sitting on an Adirondack chair in the sunroom, facing the lake, surrounded by dead plants. The house was eerily quiet, and Eric just sat there, with his legs stretched out as if he were moon bathing on a nice summer evening. Had this really been the place he was hiding this entire time? Of all the places he could be, this had been it? Pam felt suddenly angry, but there were no words in the English language to describe the frustration and sadness she felt at seeing Eric moping around like this.

"Unfuckin' believable," Pam shook her head.

"Took you long enough," he spoke after a while.

"Really, Eric?!" She asked him, crossing her arms. Raven was a topic neither of them spoke about. One she avoided at all costs, but here she was right in the fucking middle of it. "She is gone."

"She might-" he sighed frustrated.

"No, Eric! She is! The old man told you himself! Her purpose was to die and she did. It's too bad but it's done. Look at her house - it's over!" Eric sat quietly still, watching the lake. Pam walked over and carefully sat on a chair next to him, praying it wouldn't disintegrate under her weight, because it sure looked like it was going to. "You're not the only one who's lost someone they love you know?" She told him, and at that word, he finally looked at her. "You may be alive, going through the motions of the life we had before all of this shitstorm, but you ain't here. You haven't been here for a long time now. I've lost you too, you know?"

"What do you want from me, Pam? I've released you. You are free If you aren't happy, take Tara and just fucking leave."

"I am not leaving you, Eric." Her voice trembled, tears threatening to come.

"So you just to watch me go about my night pretending the world isn't utterly fucked and there's no fucking point to anything?"

"No fucking point? No fucking point?!" She yelled, feeling the tears coming to the edge of her eyes. "Is that what you call our life together?!"

"No, I meant the same life that I managed the royally fuck up, and I can't unfuck it."

"Unfuck it? Eric, you almost single-handedly brought down an 8 thousand-year-old vampire government. Everyone knows what you did, and you basically rule the whole world now. You have the world by the fucking balls, but you are wasting it by spending your nights sitting in this rotting house, rotting away with it. Unless you bought this piece of shit too, and you're going to add it to your newly founded real estate empire?"

Eric sighed again, looking away at the water. She knew this wasn't what he was talking about.

"Have you ever wondered if what you felt for her was just destiny?" He cocked an eyebrow in protest but she persisted. "You had a role to play in the coming of the antichrist or whatever, and that's why you felt so strongly for her?" He pursed his lips but said nothing. "It doesn't matter what you did or didn't do, Raven Blackwood was always going to end up drinking that blood. It was an old prophecy beyond your control. You could never have saved her."

"Godric did."

"Sorry, what?"

"At the cold moon, when the blood of her covenant is spilled, an immortal shall take her vessel to the light and she will rise again - that's the prophecy. I looked at the records, five witches were burned in Boston two hundred years ago, and the youngest was spared to be reformed by the Church, that was Raven. This happened on December 19th, 1755, during the only full moon in December-"

"A cold moon?"

"Yes. And Godric - an immortal - saved her from the Church and helped her run away. Why didn't the prophecy turn true then? Why now?" He asked angrily.

"I don't know," Pam told him quietly. "But what I do know is that Raven wouldn't want you in here." He looked at her confused. "She spent half of her life dwelling on the past, and now here you are doing the same. Do you think this is what she would have wanted for you?"

"What she would have wanted was for someone to find a way to take Lilith out of her body and give her the life she deserved. Except that it is apparently impossible because no one has ever successfully done what Blackwood did, so no one knows how to undo it. All her library is gone, what's left of her coven has no idea on how to help… But we all know Lilith has died once before, so I know she can be killed-"

"You tried that. You put a stake right through her heart."

Eric paused for a long time. "That's the wall I keep hitting. So I just come here and I try to think. But every so often I catch her scent still and…" his voice trailed off.

And the truth was out. The real reason why Eric still came up here. To relive their memories over and over again. The good ones… And the bad ones. He just wouldn't let that damn woman go.

"How many more times do you have to lose her, Eric?"

He glanced at his watch and got up at once, and finally looked at her. The moonlight highlighted his muscular body and shined the prettiest light on his face. "As many as it takes."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello angels  
What a rollercoaster I've put you through lmao. I LOVED writing this chapter, I'm a sucker for a Pam POV. There will be some significant time jumps happening because I'm going to fly through season 6 (I will also change the order of some events). Black Moon Lilith will OFFICIALLY have 26 chapters and maybe an epilogue. I'm almost done writing this whole damn thing CAN YOU BELIEVE? I cannot.
> 
> See you sometime next week xoxo DON'T FORGET TO COMMENT/KUDO


	21. Lost

Bill was having a full-blown identity crisis after the Authority fell. He felt guilty for all the damage the Authority had done - despite Sookie telling him over and over again that he didn't do it all alone, so he shouldn't take all the guilt on his own either. Nora, for example, was just - if not more - responsible, and yet Sookie didn't see her anywhere around Fangtasia moping around like a sad teddy bear. In fact, she was nowhere to be seen at all. But deep down, Sookie believed Bill also felt guilty for turning his back on Lilith. The amount of guilt and regret he carried on his shoulders left the man she once loved unrecognizable. He was there, but she had lost him.

Sookie tried her best to be supportive. Bill had the idea to develop a new kind of Tru Blood and she was all for the idea. At first, this new focus seemed to be healing his mind, but quickly it grew into a dark obsession. He spent nights on end locked in his basement, studying and experimenting. He never wanted to go out with her or do anything to relax with her. Let alone do anything romantic. He told her she could hang around the lab, as long as she wasn't disturbing. Sookie even tried to understand what he was studying, and tried to read all those big words and chemistry theory along with microbiology… But it was out of her league. She was never very good at school, and never went to college. This was way out of her league, so the best she could do… Was to stay out of his way.

The straw that broke the camel's back was when he decided to make his new synthetic blood based on fairie's blood instead of humans. Maybe even give vampires the power of walking in the sun. Bill believed this would save the vampire kind from humans once and for all, or at least restore the balance of how life was before the Authority went off the rails. It was originally Russell Edgington's idea, so Sookie knew it couldn't be any good.

The night Bill asked her for a sample of her blood was the night that she walked out. She was many things, but a guinea pig wasn't one of them. This would expose the existence of fairies to the whole world, and Sookie did not bet it would go well at all, seeing how hostile humans turned against vampires. Granted, they kind of deserved it at this point.

Soon after she met Warlow and her world was turned upside down again. Sookie didn't mean to fall in love with him, but she did. It was unexplainable what she felt for him. He was exactly what she desired for so long. It was like puzzle pieces who just fit together. Being with him was like being home. Their connection was deep, raw and easy. She didn't have to fight to be with him like she did with Bill. She didn't have to fight to be away from him like she did with Eric. He just wanted her, and he did for a very long time. Warlow accepted her for who she was. He was just happy to be near her. Their hands lit up every time they touched. It was pure joy.

And at this point, she knew better. She knew a vampire-fairy hybrid was going to be trouble, even more so than the regular vampire boyfriend. Once she found who he really was, she was ready to kill him. Use the last of her light on him, to avenge what he did to her parents. But Lafayette - despite swearing off magic forever after losing Jesus - agreed to help her to find out the truth. He summoned the spirits of her parents and they admitted what really happened. After discovering Sookie had been promised to a vampire by her great great grandfather, her own parents tried to kill her. She was just a child, and her daddy was going to murder her just so Warlow wouldn't claim her. It was an awful feeling hearing that from your own parents. Her mom and dad rather see her dead than turned into a vampire. What kind of love was that? What kind of parents were that? They could have at least tried to understand what vampires were. Or find out a way to get her out of the contract. There were a dozen other things they could have done, but they chose to kill her. And if it weren't for Warlow - not her fairy Godmother, or grandfather, or any other fairy for that matter - they would have succeeded.

So she loved Warlow. There was just something about him. He was so kind, and warm, and not to mention straight up a hot. He was even funny. But Sookie needed to end things with Bill for good if she was going to seriously date Warlow. Something just didn't sit right with her about how things ended. And that's why she was about to knock on his door.

"Sookie?" He greeted her with a shy smile. Bill looked like shit. He somehow looked older, paler and skinnier. Was he sick? Did vampires get sick?

"Do you have a minute?" She asked. "We need to talk."

After they sat down in his living room she told him everything, from the beginning. She told him how the day after their last argument she had met someone, and she had fallen for him. Sookie was here on official breaking up business. This feeling, being here and telling him this felt all too familiar. It wasn't the first time she broke up with him. Bill said he understood, with the same look on his face. Even with his voice filled with sorrow, he told her he was happy for her. Sookie thought she would feel better after telling him, but she didn't. She still felt guilty as hell. Was she making a mistake? Was that why she felt so awful? A little part of her always believed Bill Compton was The One. But she had to let that part go because the Bill she once loved… He simply didn't exist anymore.

"How have you been? You look… Tired, somehow." She asked, trying to change the subject.

"I've been… Busy. Studying fairy blood and working with a scientist I've… Hired."

"Fairy blood? So you got your sample after all," she stiffened up.

Bill seemed uneasy at her reaction. More guilt flashed through his face "I did."

"And?"

"We can't replicate it," he sighed. "The crystals are too unstable. Now I'm just focusing on making a proper synthetic blood formula."

"Good. I'm sure you'll be making the new and improved Tru Blood 2.0 in no time then," Sookie stood up, with a heavy heart. "I won't keep you."

"You're not."

"I made dinner plans with Warlow anyway, so I should-"

Bill got up and his fangs got out. "Warlow? As in Macklyn Warlow?!" He hissed.

"Bill, what the fuck?!" She took a step back.

"You didn't tell me his name was Warlow. Sookie do you have any idea of what he is?!"

"As a matter of fact, I do know!"

"He is dangerous Sookie!" He roared.

"Oh Jeez Bill, where have I heard that one before?" She roared. Sookie was so both pissed and hurt at his reaction.

"You don't understand, Warlow is the oldest vampire in existence, he is unimaginably powerful! And if he lived this long he surely is incredibly intelligent-"

"And?! Are you insinuating I am not good enough for him? Little Sookie Stackhouse is just a part fairy waitress from Bon Temps, how could a vampire like that be interested in such a thing?!"

"Don't twist my words!" Bill threatened. "I thought you broke up with me because you wanted to be normal and have a normal life?"

"Well, I'm not normal Bill, so it would never work. And it's not why I broke up with you this time around, and you know it."

But he ignored her. "Warlow is Lilith's progeny, Sookie. She could summon him at any time, and he would have to help Her to whatever She wanted. He could be dangerous, he could hurt you!"

"He is not! He would never hurt me! The only dangerous one here is you!" Sookie yelled. "You find one thing to believe in and you throw yourself so deeply into, you don't care what collateral damage you take down with you! You did that for Queen Sophie-Anne, you did it with the Authority, then with Lilith and now with this Tru Blood. The only thing you don't seem to be capable of giving your all to is me!"

Bill looked away, ashamed. He had no right at insinuating Sookie didn't know who to date. Not after he turned his back on her. Not after everything they went through.

"Who was the fairy, huh?! Did she give you a sample willingly?! Because no sane fairy would give blood for a vampire to duplicate. And please tell this has nothing to do with Andy's kids..."

Bill opened his mouth but no words came out. Sookie lost all her breath at once. It was him. He killed four innocent fairies in his quest for "peace". She couldn't believe this. Eric Northman was right about him all along. He was a wolf in sheep's clothing. Bill Compton was a monster. How could she ever have loved someone like that?

"If Tru Blood at least tastes better, vampires will cease to attack humans! And nothing tastes better… Than you."

"Well, I'm fuckin' flattered. Goodbye Bill."

And horrified, she stormed off.

* * *

Fangtasia was surprisingly full of patrons. A huge poster outside advertised it was ladies' night. Nowhere else for vampires to be, I guess, Bill thought. Tara let him in, skipping the huge line of people - from hillbillies and southern belles to aggressive punk and goths. All in dubious taste, as this was still Shreveport. Tara advised him to avoid Pam at all costs - the blonde was in a good mood today which was rare, and Tara didn't want him to ruin it. But he didn't come here for Pam. Much for his disappointment, Eric's chair was empty. Ginger wasn't working either, so he had to go with the other familiar face working the bar - the one he was specifically told to avoid.

"No," Pam told him. "No. No. No. NO!" She pointed at the door with her long manicured nail. "Three months without your bullshit is nowhere near enough!"

Bill sighed but said firmly. "I need to speak with Eric."

"I said no! Now get lost, Compton."

"It's about Raven," he told her.

It wasn't, not truly. But it was the only way he could get to him. Pam clenched her jaw and gave him a cold look that could kill. But Bill knew how her relationship with Eric worked. She couldn't keep things from him. If Eric found out she had been keeping information about the witch from him, his wrath would be next level Eric Northman. And Bill heard the Viking had been in particularly wrathful moods as of late.

"He's downstairs," she told him, rolling her eyes and immediately walking away, cursing under her breath.

Bill entered the dark basement searching for Eric. He never knew what to expect when coming down these stairs. But if Northman was doing it out here, then it was certainly not appropriate for the public eye. Turns out Eric was in fact, butt ass naked and fucking some woman who was bent over a coffin.

"Ahem-" Bill cleared his throat after taking some steps back up, pretending that he didn't see what he just saw. "Eric?"

"Yeah?" He called out, not stopping.

"I have to talk to you for a minute," Bill could hear his body still clapping against the back of the woman's thighs. "It's kind of important."

"I'm listening," he told him.

Was he really not going to stop fucking? Had he no shame? Who was Bill kidding, this was Eric Northman.

"It's about Raven Blackwood."

Silence. Then clothes shuffling. It only took him almost one hundred years after meeting him, but he finally found Eric Northman's weakness. Bill slowly made his way down the stairs.

"Go on, speak," Eric said, buttoning his jeans. The woman - a very pretty and tall brunette - put her clothes on and left without a word, but not without shooting Bill a dirty look first.

"Sookie's in trouble," Bill told him.

"Don't care."

"Yes, you do."

Eric shot him an annoyed look. Maybe Bill had made a mistake, maybe Eric didn't care. Maybe he cared more for Raven than Bill had thought. The man sure had a knack for wanting women he couldn't have. Or maybe just women Bill had. Raven was his witch first.

"Then what are you here for, Bill?" Eric asked him in a serious tone. Bill shifted on his feet, avoiding his eyes. "Oh my, trouble in paradise?" He smirked.

"I've been going through some stuff," he told him. Some stuff was maybe downplaying it. "We are no longer together and Sookie is seeing someone else."

It was hard saying those words out loud. He had lost Sookie. Again. And this time, he was going to stay away. He had hurt her enough.

"Did you seriously come all this way just to tell me you broke up?" He asked, putting his shirt on.

"No! I just- "

"Stop." The Viking said, raising his voice. "Just stop. You hauled me in enough of your bullshit, and I've had enough Compton. You're not King anymore, so now I can finally tell you this to your face: Fuck. You. I don't give a fuck about-"

"Eric, I know you're angry with me-"

"Angry doesn't begin to fucking cover it." He sneered, putting his hands in his pockets. "Did you know I had to hire a whole security team for this place now? Fangtasia's been open for 6 years and never in my fucking life I needed to hire protection-"

"I know I fucked up, okay?!" Bill yelled. "Hundreds of vampires have been killed, tortured or have disappeared since the Authority fell and it is all my fucking fault! I feel… I feel responsible for all of this-"

"Good, you should," Eric said, and the words felt a punch to the stomach. But he deserved it. In fact, he deserved much worse.

"I know. I turned my back on you. I saw a way out of my own pain and I went too far. I play that night over and over in my head, and it still doesn't feel right. I still don't know if I'm going to hell believing in a false God. Or if She was the right God and I turned my back on Her… Or if I did the right thing for not doing what She asked of me,"

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"It was supposed to be me, Eric... Who turned Raven into a vampire using the sacred Blood. Lilith asked me so Herself. I was the chosen one to carry out her plan - to sire the Holy vessel."

"...What?" Eric muttered, words barely escaping him.

"But then… Sookie showed up and I completely froze. How could Lilith have chosen such a weak servant? Sookie is, and always will be my weakness. Raven knew this. Her father knew this. That's why he made you carry out Her plan instead."

"You say it as if it was a good thing. I killed her Bill. I woke up from the spell Elijah put me under and she was dying," His stare was intense, in a way that only Eric could do. His voice was heavy. He carried pain too. "And now Lilith gets to roam free, wearing her skin..."

"And now who knows what kind of horrors She is unleashing upon the world?" Bill agreed. "Have you heard about all the stillborn children? Do you think it is Her?"

Eric still stood in silence. He had lost his attention halfway through the conversation. It was clear that the Viking did not know Bill was originally the chosen one. Hopefully, Eric would feel a bit more at ease with himself, knowing Raven was going to die all along. If not by Eric's hand, it would have been by Bill's. The silence grew too uncomfortable. It was time to rip the band-aid off.

"Sookie is dating Warlow." He finally told him.

"Who the fuck is Warlow?" Eric snapped back.

"Warlow was the first vampire Lilith made."

"Okay… And why should I care? What does that have to do with Raven?" Eric asked, patience wearing thin.

"Because," Bill continued. "Warlow is the one who killed Lilith the first time around."

* * *

Eric found himself at Sookie Stackhouse's front porch. Must all roads lead here? A million thoughts flashed in his mind. Was Bill lying about the progeny? Was this one of Bill's intricate plots? If not, was Warlow to be trusted? If yes, he didn't want Lilith killed… Entirely. He wanted the demon out of Raven's body. He wanted his witch back, alive, in his arms. And how in the world had Nora not found this guy? And if she did… Did he hurt her? Is that why she was not answering him?

He could only hear Sookie's calm heartbeat inside the house. He couldn't pick the scent of anyone else within half a mile, so he barged in. Sookie was in the kitchen and got caught by surprise, scared by the sudden sight of him. She almost spilled a whole pot of spaghetti and meatballs all over the floor, but Eric caught it midair. He carefully put the hot dish on the table, not minding getting his hands burned.

"Goddammit, Eric!" She yelled.

"You're welcome," he said as his hands healed.

"You can't just barge in here any time you want!"

"I can actually, it's my house," he didn't know why, but angry Sookie was really funny to watch. It was like watching an angry chihuahua. And he liked the fact that he still held power over her.

"What do you want?!"

What did he want? Ah yes, The Million Dollar Question. "I heard you made an interesting friend,"

Sookie scoffed loudly. "Did Bill tell you? It's really none of your business, Eric." She crossed her arms angrily.

"Well, I think your friend can help me."

"With what?"

"Raven."

Sookie was a bit surprised. "You mean, Lilith?"

"No, I do mean Raven."

"Ravens are bad juju, you know that right? She's like... A literal omen of death or something?"

Such a tiny naive brain, in such a hot package. "Where I come from, ravens are the eyes of Odin. Seeing a raven in battle meant God was watching over you. So depends who you ask."

She paused for a moment, studying his face. "You love her, don't you?"

Eric didn't say anything. He tried to picture the witch, but his memory of her was starting to fade. That was the thing about memories - the more you think about them, the more you change them. The only true thing he had left was how he felt about her. He desired her like he never desired anything else in his entire existence. The pull he felt for her, to hear her voice, to taste her skin, to just hold her. To make her smile.

Eric couldn't bring himself to say yes. It just hurt too much.

"I need her back, Sookie," he told her. "If Warlow helps me destroy Lilith, I will give you your house back," Sookie's eyes widened. "You will never have to see me again."

"Okay," she agreed. "I will ask him."

He nodded, feeling relieved she agreed. Each passing night, he felt lost in a world without Raven and it was a dark fucking place. Watching her die was a memory that plagued his mind. Feeling her body go cold, on a loop. Knowing that he was responsible for her death was eating him inside. This was the first time since he lost her that he felt any closer to getting her back. And when he did, he would never let go.

"Eric," she called out as he was leaving. "She loved you too, you know?"

He stopped, without turning. Her small smile when she last saw him, before her blue eyes closed for the last time. Just hold me, she asked.

"Yeah," he muttered. "I know."

* * *

Eric was browsing the dinner menu through his texts, picking one through his favourites meals. Blonde, from Dallas or a redhead from Santa Monica? Oh, a delicious brunette from… Jacksonville? Pass. Why was she even on his phone? He checked his messages again. 24 hours later and still no word from Sookie. Now the bitch decided to be quiet? After dinner, he was going to pay the fairy a visit, and maybe meet this Warlow in person.

The club was full yet again. Pam and Tara had the night off, so he had to stay until closing time. Pam really poured her dark heart and soul in this place, and it was a miracle they even had people coming in with the current political climate. The world had turned against them. Vampires were being hunted left and right, with complete immunity from the law. They were not considered human, not even dead ones at that, so they had no rights. Turns out Fangtasia was the safest place to be. And attracting humans was the real trick, one that Pam had mastered. People danced and drank the night away trying to forget the hell that existed outside those doors. Eric paid them no mind - until he saw her in the crowd.

Long, slightly messy hair, white ivory skin. Slip dress but in white. Satin, like a nightgown, going down only halfway past her thighs. She wore no shoes and all her nails were long and sharp. Her skin was pale but dull. Eric had to lean forward to focus on the colour of her eyes - they were red still. He leaned back on his chair, disappointed but not surprised. Through his phone he shut off the music, and the crowd threatened to boo - but it only took a glance at Eric Northman to know better.

"We are closed, everyone out." His voice took over the room.

Slowly, but with plenty of complaints everyone made their way out. Everyone but her, who stood in the middle of the dance floor exploring the club with curious eyes. She took a look around the place, now empty. The lights were still twirling around, but everything else was quiet. He was conflicted about what to do. Both had tried to kill each other, both had failed. He had no idea if he could undo what Blackwood did. Using Warlow was the nuclear option until he knew it could actually be done the way he wanted.

"Nice place," she said in a voice all too familiar.

"Ah. She speaks."

The strange woman in Raven Blackwood's body studied the place. Her walk, voice and eyes were different, but everything else was too much the same. It was odd seeing her dressed in white. She got up the pole platform right in front of him and circled it once, slowly. Almost threatening to dance in front of him.

"What do you want, Lilith?" He asked, reminding himself of who she was.

"Why can't I kill you?" She asked, then her knee hooked on the pole and she did a simple spin.

Of course. The one God walking on earth, the one creature absolutely capable of anything, unlimited power - had one single weakness. Lilith could not harm him. That confirmed his suspicions that she could, in fact, be killed. Why else would she care? He just had to figure out how.

"Raven Blackwood took a vow," he told her, trying not to remember that night. "She wanted to be mine, so she was." He remembered the addicting taste of her skin. How she felt in his arms. Of her legs wrapped around his hips. It was all there in front of him - but it was a lie. He killed the woman he loved, and here was merely an impostor.

Lilith got higher on the pole with one graceful jump and did a slightly more complicated twirl. "Were you hers?" She asked.

Eric shifted on his chair, uncomfortably. He wished he had told Raven how he felt about her. Or least shown her in some meaningful way. But he killed her instead.

Lilith scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Typical."

"Leave," he told her, showing his fangs. "Before I kill you."

"No you won't," she teased him with a smile, sliding down the pole and making her dress ride dangerously high.

"I know about Warlow," he threatened.

She grinned, showing her fangs as she did another spin. Torturing Eric by displaying Raven's body, dangling it in front of him was fun for her. "That's not why,"

"You think very highly of yourself, don't you?"

"I have created thousands of the most beautiful children this world has seen. For thousands of years, they pray in my honour each night. Many have died for me-"

"Can't say I am surprised by how people are fucking stupid."

"You don't believe in God?" She asked, as one of her dress's straps fell off from one of her shoulders.

"No, I don't."

"That's funny," she stood up against the pole and pulled down her other strap, letting her dress fall off the floor. "Considering how you used to worship this body."

He got off his chair and by the very next second, he had Lilith by the throat, pinned against the pole. He growled at the demon, who just dangled from his grasp with a smile on her face. He could tell by the look in her eye that Lilith had all of Raven's memories. She knew exactly what buttons to push on him, and it was working.

"Do it," she defied him. "Hurt me."

He squeezed her neck harder, trying to shut her up. But she still grinned ear to ear, calling his bluff. Kill her. He could dismember her limb by limb, scatter her body parts in through all the oceans. Drown the head in holy water, lock in a safe and throw away the key. He could skin her alive, make her suffer slowly. Or boil her in hot oil. There were hundreds of other ways to end this demon right now.

But he recognized the curl on her smile. He felt her soft skin under his fingers. The way her hair draped on her shoulders. How familiar her body felt. Her scent. She smelled like being home. This was still Raven, somehow. The X mark was glowing faintly on her naked shoulder. Raven was still his. The bond, the attraction, the craving he felt was not only for her body. It wasn't just carnal desire what longed for the woman under his fingers. He needed her soul back.

He couldn't do it. Not when there was a slim chance of getting his Raven back. He couldn't bear looking at Lilith anymore. He couldn't look at those red eyes, taunting him. She knew exactly what she was doing. Raven may have been created for this purpose, but she had a life. She had dreams, and feelings, and thoughts of her own. Elijah Blackwood had no right to do it, and Lilith had no right to accept a body that was not hers. Raven was his. In every way that mattered. He let her go and before leaving the room, he told her over the shoulder.

"You are a terrible fucking mother."

He didn't care to look at her again, but her cold voice spoke again. "At least I can still sire children."

By the tone in her voice, he knew he had struck a nerve. But she was gone before he could turn around and read her face. He left alone standing by the bar, in a completely empty Fangtasia.

"What the fuck does that even mean?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N.: Hello!
> 
> I only have some bits and pieces left to write OH MY GOD, I am so nervous I hope you like how it ends.


	22. Monsters

Sookie stood by her parents' graves alone in the cemetery. The sunny day, the fresh spring breeze and the happy birds chirping failed to cheer her up. She had buried yet another friend. Sookie was so incredibly tired. Tired of losing friends. Tired of making hard choices. Tired of getting her heartbroken. Tired of being lied to by everyone she thought she loved. Tired of not feeling good enough. Sookie felt stuck between a rock and a hard place. Warlow told her he would help get rid of his maker but only if she agreed to turn for him and be with him forever. Needles to say, it was not the proposal she dreamed of.

She fell for him, hard. It should be the easiest 'would you rather' game of all times: get her house back from Eric Northman, and turn into a vampire and stay young for all eternity with your one true love; or, continue to be Eric's little plaything and lose her soulmate forever.

But the whole thing felt… Wrong. It just did. Dying, turning, having to drink blood to survive, outliving every single friend and family she had left… Love shouldn't be this hard.

Sookie's eyes filled with tears. She stood by her parent's graves, staring at their names like she's done a million times before. But this time, she did not find comfort. She found more anger, resentment and betrayal. A part of her wanted to become a vampire just to spite her mom and dad. They tried to murder their own daughter to stop her so-called destiny. It would be like giving them the ultimate middle finger, and God knows they fucking deserved it. Vampires were not bad people. Not all of them anyway. And not all the time. They were no worse than humans, Sookie knew that much. Hating vampires just for the sake of them being different was pure bigotry. It was like them hating her for being a fairy, which Sookie was starting to realize… They also did, in a way.

She dried her tears with the back of her hand and started to make her way home. She was going to give Warlow her answer tonight. Sookie had to tell him… She couldn't do it. She just wasn't ready. As much as she wanted her house back and be free from Eric… It shouldn't be like this. It should be her choice.

Her stomach did a full flip when she thought of how disappointed Warlow would be. Maybe he would be relieved that he wouldn't have to face his maker again. She remembered the witch and she couldn't help but feel a little guilty for not helping Eric. Within a year of knowing her, Eric Northman was ready to die in front of the Moon Goddess Empire for her. And from what Bill told her, Eric gave up a seat in the Authority - a chance to be one of the most powerful and influential vampires on Earth - just to keep her safe. That woman had awoken something in Eric, and it was so violently ripped away from him. It was unfair that she died, but Sookie dying too didn't guarantee anything. What if Warlow failed, and he got hurt instead?

Sookie looked up to the bright blue sky above her and saw a lonely raven fly above the trees of the graveyard. With a small sigh she muttered. "I'm sorry you had shitty parents too."

* * *

Sookie felt nervous going into the fairy dimension. She walked through the dark graveyard and opened the portal, stepping into yet another beautiful summer day in the garden. She watched Warlow from a distance just for a minute, decorating a pole with the most beautiful flowers made her a bit more at ease. It's going to be okay. Sookie approached him and before she could ask what he was doing, he told her with a heart-melting smile.

"It's a wedding maple pole. It's a tradition for the husband to craft one for his future wife."

She felt a punch to her gut. "I have something I need to tell you," Sookie sighed, guilt rattling her body. "I buried a friend today, his name was Terry,"

"Sookie, I am so sorry,"

"Thanks but… It made me think-"

"You won't accept my proposal." He interrupted.

"Yes. No! It's just…" She stuttered, trying to find the right words.

Warlow sighed in disappointment. "Do you want Eric Northman in your life? Is that it? Because I don't plan on sharing you-"

"NO!" Sookie told him, raising her voice. "Trust me, that chapter in my life is over. The truth is, I need my friends and my brother right now. I am not ready to say goodbye to them. And I want you to meet them, and love them like I do. They are my family, Warlow. I want us to spend time with them, as one unit."

Warlow clenched his jaw and frowned. "Then move houses."

"What? No! It's my gran's house, it's all I have left of her."

"Sookie, I've waited 6 thousand years for this-" he said, growing impatient.

"I know! I know you did, and I do feel awful asking you to do this but please wait a bit more. I want to date you-"

"Date me?"

"You know… Go to the movies, and dinner, apple picking, and spend Christmas together. Introduce you to Jason, properly. And I want a real proposal, a really romantic one. And a big country wedding, too."

"Do you have any idea what I offered to do to have you? I am willing to kill my own maker to have you. I was imprisoned in hell for 20 years, for you! I waited 6 thousand years to have YOU! And now you want me to fucking date you? Like a dirty human? Who do you think I am?!"

Sookie had never heard this tone from him. His rage had come through the surface and it scared her. He paced around her, watching her like a predator eyes its prey.

"I will have you Sookie. I cannot accept waiting any longer."

"I am not telling you no! But I want to turn when I am ready to turn. You are asking me to die, here okay? Don't pretend you're the only one doing a big fuckin' favor."

His hand cut the air and smacked her in the face, hard, making her head spin. It took several moments for her brain to process he had hit her. And even when it did, it didn't register as a single action. It was a domino effect of crumbled emotions. Fear. Guilt. Grief. He wasn't the person she thought he was.

Warlow grabbed Sookie by the arm, tight. "Who do you think you are talking to here?" He said in a low angry voice, his fangs were two inches from her face. His eyes burned with anger.

"Let me go!" She whimpered, her heart beating fast in her chest.

He squeezed her arm harder. "I'm done playing your little game. There's a contract promising you to me, and I will take it whether you want to or not. I've paid my fucking dues-"

"You are hurting me!"

His fangs sunk down her neck, sending her body into a frenzy of terror. Without actually meaning to, she zapped him with her left hand making him let go of her. Sookie ran away, trying to think quickly on what to do. She grabbed a tree branch and snapped it off quickly, but the next moment, Warlow had her pinned against the same tree. He shoved his bloody wrist on her face, trying to force his blood on her. Sookie clenched her jaw and pursed her lips. She had seen this movie before, starring Eric and Raven. She knew how it ended. If a single droplet of his blood got into her, all he had to do was snap her neck and bury her. She didn't want it like this, how could he not see this? How could he not care? He hit her. He was going to kill her. She couldn't get a clear shot at his heart from the way he pinned her against the tree with his body. In a final act of desperation, Sookie just started to stab him on his ribs, around his kidney and on his left thigh. He flinched and growled, but she just continued to stab him with the branch, hoping he would let go. Sookie didn't want to die. And now that she had seen who Warlow really was, she would never be his.

Suddenly the sky went dark. Her heart was pounding in her chest. Sookie saw a woman approach from behind a tall gravestone. She wore a white satin gown, as short as her fingertips. She had long claw-like nails, and the usual long, luscious black hair. She stood tall, with shoulders back, studying them from a distance. Sookie would recognize the woman anywhere: it was Raven.

"Warlow," she spoke in an unusual, honeyed voice.

Warlow let go of Sookie and focused his attention on the strange woman.

"So it is true. You are back." He sneered, his fangs out.

"I am," She agreed with a cold smile, revealing long sharp fangs. Now that she was closer Sookie could see her bright red eyes. If Raven looked intimidating before, she was just straight-up scary now. Sookie got goosebumps when the demon laid eyes on her. "You still can't stay away from them, I see. You've learned nothing."

"What do you want?" Warlow asked her, putting himself between Sookie and the demon.

"You," she told him. "By my side again."

"Never!" He hissed.

She raised her eyebrows, intrigued by Warlow's defiance. "As your maker-"

"No!" He roared.

Warlow created a big ball of light with his hands, just like grandpa Niall had shown her how to do. He threw it at Lilith, but the ball of light went right through her as if she weren't there at all. It hit the big maple pole out in the field, that it instantly burned up in a big but short fire.

"You're not even here," Warlow scoffed, disappointed. "You are astral projecting."

"I'm a little... Tied up at the moment," she told him. "Come on now, your little attitude is annoying me Warlow. I have a lot to do still, so you will obey me, and you will give me the seed I need to make more children-"

"What?" Sookie gasped.

"Haven't you created enough monsters? I am giving you nothing."

"Oh, I am just getting started…" She paced around them, her movements flowed with absolute grace. Warlow followed by putting Sookie behind him, shielding him against the woman. Protecting the very person moments ago he was trying to kill. "I've taken a human baby for every Wicca I made…"

Sookie's blood went cold. She remembered watching the news. Thousands of babies all over the country and the world were being born stillborn, or just died in the womb, or days after being born with no apparent reason. Did that mean… Lilith has created a witch for every baby she killed? That would mean thousands and witch babies on earth right now. Sound asleep in their cribs, or in the arms of their unknowing, unexpecting human parents.

"Then what do you need me for?" He asked.

"First, you need to take care of my little... Human problem. Then, I will create a new kind of vampire. It seems your progenies and their lineage… Well, they really made a mess of this place, didn't they?"

Things were finally making sense. Lilith had created the first vampire like Bill explained to her, but the ones after that… That had to be Warlow's doing. He had to turn at least one other person in the past 6 thousand years, and that person created others, and those created others… Lilith was not the first vampire. For one, no vampire she's ever heard of could astral project like a ghost.

It's not like Sookie suddenly hated vampires. But creating a new kind of vampire with how hostile humans were already… It wouldn't end well. Lilith had spent the last months killing human babies. She was a monster who clearly had no regard for innocent human lives. And the only person who could stop as she found out… Was also a monster.

Wait. What human problem? What else was she going to do to humans?!

"Now stop being so childish," she told him in an angry tone. "As your maker, I command you to come with me."

And just with those few words Warlow simply walked away. He obeyed her, just like Bill told her he would. Even being so old, or a fairy hybrid he was not immune to the Command. She couldn't let Lilith do this. She knew Warlow could still kill his maker and he probably would, given the chance. But would that be before or after he gave her his… Seed?

She took a deep breath, held onto the stake tighter, and ran towards Warlow. She plunged the stake right in the middle of his back, piercing right through his heart. Warlow cried out in pain, then went silent as he crumbled to the ground. He turned grey, then exploded into a red burst of blood, soaking Sookie completely. The woman stood still, pursing their lips and raised their chin slightly, disapprovingly. She stared Sookie down, rage burning in her red eyes. Her white dress was still pristine, and just up close that Sookie noticed Lilith wasn't even touching the ground. Ghost form or not, Sookie knew she had zero chance against Lilith alone. But in the real world, with any luck, Bill would have sensed her fear and be near if she teleported back. So that's exactly what she did.

Sookie teleported back to reality, running as fast as she could. When she landed on the graveyard's grass, she saw not only Bill but Eric too, waiting for her. The moon was high in the sky, shining down on the graveyard.

In the next moment, Lilith had followed Sookie back into the real realm, fangs out, screeching like a mad owl and hissing in foreign tongues. Bill shielded Sookie, and she stood behind him and Eric. Both vampires were ready to attack the demon. But as soon as Lilith laid eyes on Eric, she stopped. Suddenly she didn't stand so tall. None one spoke, for a moment. Eric and Lilith just locked eyes for the longest minute on Earth. Then, Eric took a single step towards her and Lilith vanished into thin air. It was as if Lilith was… Scared, somehow. God herself was scared of Eric Northman. If that wasn't some kind of omen or metaphor, Sookie didn't know what was.

Everything moved in slow motion for a moment. She had Warlow's muck all over herself. He was dead. Her love was dead. But the man she loved died to her minutes before she actually staked him. She grieved all the same. Could she be so stupid? She was so desperate to love someone, and be loved… That she didn't see it coming?

"Sookie, are you okay? Whose blood is this?!" Bill asked her.

"It's Warlow's. I had to… Kill him."

Eric spun on his heels and growled at Sookie. "You've killed him?! Do you have any idea what you've done?!"

"As a matter of fact, I do know!" She yelled back, not even realizing she was crying. Not of sadness, but of anger. "I had to kill him, Eric! He tried to turn me against my will, and then Lilith showed up… And she wanted him to help her make a new kind of vampire! I figured the world is fucked enough as it is, so I killed him!"

"You really fucked our deal in the ass, Sookie!" He yelled, angrier than she had ever seen him.

"Eric, Sookie did the right thing-" Bill tried to defend her, but Sookie yelled right back at Eric. She didn't need Bill to defend her.

"Did you not hear me?! Lilith is the one killing babies out there! She's been makin' an army of witches out of their little souls! And to top it off, do you really think a God fuckin' an ancient, day walking, ming reading, silver-immune fairy vampire monster would solve any of our problems?!"

But Eric didn't say another word. He just ran away and disappeared in the woods.

* * *

Eric drove fast, with no real destination. He blasted music as loud as his speakers could handle in a futile attempt of drowning out thoughts. He zoomed past other cars on the highway, leaving them quickly far behind in the rearview mirror. He noticed his cellphone's screen light on the passenger seat light up. He hoped it was Nora, finally texting him back with some good news. Much for his disappointment he read the words Bill Compton calling for the tenth time, so he turned his phone off. Where the fuck had Nora been? She had been gone long enough. Why won't she answer him?

He wanted to tell her about Warlow for days now. Now all he would have to tell was that he was dead.

Eric felt so angry. And he had no place to put the anger. He could blame Elijah, Nora, Bill, Sookie, the Authority until the cows came home, but the truth was it was all his fault. His fault she was dead. It was his fault for him feeling this way. He knew he shouldn't have fallen for Raven in the first place. She was a warm-blooded witch. He knew he was going to lose her. After all, he lost everyone he ever loved, didn't he? So why fucking bother? Why put himself through this?

Eric drove faster.

Nothing had prepared him for this. Raven had turned into a baby-killing monster. His witch was no longer his, not by a long shot. The vow she made turned out to be more of a curse than a blessing. Eric was doomed to walk this Earth forever knowing a monster of his own doing was out there. Knowing she could show up at his doorstep at any time, and there was nothing he could about it. And now his only lead, his only hope was dead. A mere pile of goop, rotting in another dimension.

Eric's foot pushed the gas pedal further down, his body was being pushed firmly against the seat. He lost his only shot at getting her back. Her red eyes staring back at him would haunt his mind forever. The white dress. The pain he felt was starting to become unbearable. He couldn't bury it inside anymore. He couldn't just go back to Fangtasia and pretend anymore. Eric couldn't fuck another woman and hope that was the palate-cleansing he so desperately needed. He had to get away from this place. He had to forget Raven Blackwood for good.

He had to let go of the best part of him.

* * *

Pam was refilling the soda machine when Tara finally made her way upstairs. "You're up early," Pam told her, distracted by the tightness of Tara's jeans. God, the legs on that woman were to kill for.

Pam had a brilliant idea of having some basement fun, since this place was empty and Eric was God knows where. All he told her was that Bill Compton needed him for a thing, and he ghosted. Maybe all this free time could be put to good use after all. She could use an orgasm before opening the club - or seven.

"So are you," she told her with a smirk. "Where's Eric?"

"Out," she said with a smirk, as she tossed the towel over in the sink.

"Do you think he's at the haunted house again?"

Pam shrugged and walked closer to Tara while swinging her hips left and right. But her progeny didn't seem to want any of it. "Pam, how come he never does any of the heavy liftin' around here?"

"Oh Tara, don't start with this shit again," she rolled her eyes.

"No, I mean it. You are in here, night after night running this place practically alone. He's never here and when he is, he just sits in that stupid chair and does nothing. I don't get it."

"Of course you don't angel cakes," Pam drawled. She could feel her panties dry out as she spoke. "Having Eric sit on that 'stupid' chair is what makes this place what it is. People don't drive out here to party with me, or with you, or the fuckin' losers that live in this town. They come here to be in the presence of Eric Northman and maybe, just maybe, they will have the honour of being noticed by him and become something."

Tara frowned and made a face. "You give this dude way too much hype. All I see is an asshole who does fuck all around here and consistently chooses other women over you. He released you, Pam, you owe him nothing. I don't get why you stay."

Pam felt a tinge of anger. "That's right, you don't get it." Pam now started to organize the glasses, taking them out of the sanitizer. She had to do so carefully because her anger was starting to boil and God knows how many glasses she'd shattered in the past over shit way less anger-inducing than this conversation.

"I've been there. I know what's like to be betrayed by the people you love most. I know what's like to be left behind," Tara pleaded. And here Pam was, thinking she had saved Tara from those losers all along. Tara still hated being a vampire. It hurt Pam every time she saw her progeny hating being what Pam loved most. "As much as it sucks, sometimes you gotta lose something to make space for something new. So fuck Eric!"

Pam spun around and put a finger on Tara's lips, shutting her mouth. "If I hear you ever say 'fuck Eric' again, I will slap the baby fangs right outta your mouth. Don't try me."

"FUCK ERIC!" Tara yelled right on her face.

Pam waved her arm quickly, her palm was about to hit her cheekbones in full, but Tara grabbed her wrist before she could.

"You wanna be Eric's doormat for the rest of eternity, that's up to you. But I ain't gonna be here to see it. Release me."

Pam jerked her arm away from Tara, her blood was starting to boil. Those words cut like silver. "Don't you dare judge me! You have no idea what being someone's partner for a hundred years is! How long was your longest relationship, huh? Two weeks?"

Tara didn't respond. She just stood there, looking hurt. That was the problem with her. Tara was too easy to hurt. It was why she always ran when things got difficult. Release me, she asked. She had no fuckin' idea.

Suddenly the front door was kicked open with a loud bang.

Both of them froze in place as 6 heavily armed guards stormed the place. Her initial reaction upon seeing the black attire, the vests and the guns with lasers pointing directly at her chest made her believe this was an Authority takedown. But the Authority no longer existed, so who the fuck were these people?! LAVFT was printed on their bulletproof vests.

Here we fuckin' go. Humans were so fucking dramatic.

"Which one of you is Pamela Swynford De Beaufort?" The man in front of her yelled, looking at her through the scope on his gun.

"Yes, that would be me," she told him. "And you are? Wait. Let me guess… Male strippers?"

"We are here by order of the Governor of Louisiana," he yelled, handing her a piece of paper. "To enforce order 846, to close down all vampire run businesses."

She took the piece of paper but didn't bother to read it. Whatever it said, it was bullshit. The Governor couldn't do this, they were squeaky clean. "Gentlemen," she said, looking deeply in the man's eyes. She was going to glamour him into a kitten. "I'm sure there's a way we can work this out,"

But the man stiffened up and yelled back. "Back off! Back the fuck off!"

Confused, Pam took a step back. The glamouring didn't take. Did she do it wrong?

"On your knees, vamper!" Another man yelled. "Hands behind your head!"

Pam was out of ideas. There were four guns pointed at her, two pointed at Tara. Where the fuck is Eric?! She lowered to the ground and raised her arms slowly. The four men got closer, and she could see one of them taking out silver cuffs from his belt. Where were they going to take her? To the prison she kept hearing patrons talk about? The one no one came back from?!

"Hey!" Tara yelled, jumping on the top of the bar. "Get that thing off her face!"

One of the humans shot at Tara, and the gunshot sounded like a bomb had exploded. Pam cried out for her progeny, fearing she had just died. She was scared of the cold empty feeling that followed. The men left the bar, and as soon as they did Pam got up and ran to Tara. The gunshot had thrown her ten feet over across the bar. She howled in pain, blood gushing out of her stomach.

"Tara!" Pam cried. "It will pass, just give it a minute!"

But it didn't. Tara squirmed and cried on the floor as if she was being tortured alive. She caressed Tara's beautifully soft skin, trying to calm her. But there was something different about whatever it was they shot her with. Blood just kept coming out, the flesh around the wound just kept getting bigger - Tara wasn't healing. Pam tried to get the bullet out but severely burned her index finger. Whatever it was, it wasn't just a wood bullet. And it hurt much more than silver.

"Don't cry baby," Pam sobbed. "I'm here, don't cry."

Tara's cries started to go quiet. There was an enormous pool of blood surrounding them. Pam went into shock. There was nothing she could do to help her child. Tara was going to die a horrible death. She hadn't even lived, not really. Eric told Pam to take care of her, and she failed. She had been so busy chasing after Eric that she missed out on being a good maker. Pam cried, devastated. Tara deserved a better maker than the one she got. Release me, was one of the last words she would ever say. And then right after, she tried to save Pam from being taken. If Tara made out of this somehow, Pam swore she would be the maker Tara deserved. Tara was the only bond Pam had left in this world. How could she not see this until now? Until it was too late?!

Sometimes you gotta lose something to make space for something new, she told her. If Pam lost Tara… There wouldn't be space for anything new, because there wouldn't be anything left.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N.: HELLO
> 
> I will forever ship Pam/Tara. Writing this hurt.
> 
> I have less than 5k words to write to finish Black Moon Lilith (and a lot of editing to do) and y'all... So many emotions. I have also decided to go back through the entire story and re-edit it. I will add some easter eggs and improve some details so Book 1 and Book 2 feel like one cohesive story. If you see a *under revision* tag on either Blood Moon or Black Moon Lilith, that is why. It will not change the story at all! But in the future, if you ever decide to read this story again it will be (hopefully) better. I'm just not ready to say goodbye yet, I guess.
> 
> Until next week
> 
> xoxo


	23. Taken

It had been a long fucking night already and it was only a quarter past midnight. When Eric returned to Fangtasia, he found the place deserted. Not a patron in line, not a car in the parking lot and heavy silence filled the place. When he entered his club there was blood everywhere. He found Pam in shock, crying on the floor and Tara was heavily wounded beside her, blood and guts splattered everywhere. They were attacked by the LAVTF and Tara had been shot by a specialized UV emitting bullet. Eric had to do a botched surgery to get the thing out without touching it. He knew this kind of anti-vampire weapon was coming the second Nora told him they killed a Pentagon official. That was the moment Eric Northman knew the game had changed. Humans now had the power to wipe them out, and there was an invisible clock ticking. The Louisiana Governor was known to be anti-vampire, and the LAVTF came to Fangtasia under his orders. His club, along with all vampire businesses, had been officially shut down. Pam was pissed Eric wasn't around when they came by.

"Sorry I had more important shit to take care of."

"What is more important than your fuckin' family?!" Pam whimpered through anger.

"Don't you fucking dare question my loyalty Pamela," he told her in a low voice, towering over his blonde, pushing her back with his chest. She took a small step back and fell silent but her eyes were pure rage, red tears running down her face.

He was tired of fighting Pam. Tired of Tara barking in the background too. Having both of them constantly yelling, defying, questioning him was exhausting. He read the papers Pam was served, and they confirmed what he knew was coming: they were effectively shut down. Dead people had no rights, according to the state of Louisiana. Fangtasia was no more. He looked around at the empty club. It's over. They had to completely detach from this place. It hurt, especially when he knew how hard Pam and even Tara worked on this club. Pam worked harder than ever to make this place full and fun again after the world had turned against vampires - and his progeny succeeded. This place meant everything to her. It was her idea, her baby. And it was unfairly taken from her.

Eric decided it was time to pay Governor Burrell a little visit first thing tomorrow.

* * *

Exactly 24 hours later, Eric dragged a young woman in the long white gown to the inside of Fangtasia, and he locked the door behind them. Kidnapping the Governor's daughter was a 100% improvised plan, but then again some of his best plans were improvised. He tried (and failed) to take the diplomatic approach. In this case, it was to intimidate and glamour Truman Burrell himself, but apparently humans created a new toy: glamour proof contact lenses. As if UV light bullets weren't enough. Humans were now fighting back, just like they did with witches centuries ago.

But Eric hadn't run out of ideas just yet. Plan B was much sexier than plan A. It involved the Governor's daughter. Plan B was going to be fucking delightful. He was going to get Burrell's plans from her, then kill her. Plan B quickly changed when he landed on her window sill and got a good look at her. Willa reminded him a bit of her. The pale skin, the big innocent eyes. But the white gown she wore reminded him of the other her. The one he refused to let haunt his thoughts. So now, he had to improvise plan C. Plan C was uncoordinated as fuck when dragged through cub doors.

"Pam, Tara meet Willa Burrell," he told Pam and Tara who were sitting at the bar. They looked absolutely miserable until they laid eyes on Willa, who was still tripping over herself.

Instantly furious, Pam got up almost knocking the barstool over. "You kidnapped the Governor's daughter?!" She yelled.

"Aw hell no! No, you motherfucking didn't!" Tara complained.

"She has information that I need," Eric told them. "Or at least she better." He sneered at Willa who flinched at the words.

"I will tell you everything I know, I swear! Please don't kill me!" The girl implored.

"Promise me you are going to kill her," Pam ordered him.

"Damn Pam, what you gotta kill her for? Just glamour her to forget and send her back home!" Tara begged.

"Because my sweet lover," Pam retorted, raising her voice annoyed. "Her daddy fucked my bar… And glamouring is boring."

"It's savage shit like that, that makes humans hate us," Tara argued.

The bickering between the two was literally making his blood pressure rise. Eric straight up kicked the hornets' nest. Never had he wished so much that Nora was here. She knew how to navigate politics and men with huge egos like Burrell with her eyes closed. But she hadn't answered her phone in days and her voicemail was full. The only way out of this was running. It felt like deja-vu. The last time he wanted to run, he should have done so. It was up to him now, to make sure Pam and Tara were safe. His progeny was the only person he had left in this world, even if she hated him.

"Be smart, Eric. How is this any different than dealing with the Authority? It's a fuckin' game of chess. Plan a better move, 'cause this is a stupid one."

"That's your problem, Pamela, you don't see it. We've been playing chess while they've been playing fucking hungry hungry hippos. Now pack your shit," he ordered. "I'm sure the Governor's security is on their way here now. We are leaving Fangtasia for good."

There was a long silence. Was she going to fight him on this too? He really had no patience left to handle Pam. She had been acting like a little spoiled child for way too long and there was literally no time for this. Her bad behaviour was going to get them killed. They had to leave and leave now.

"You are just going to roll over like that?" Tara asked her.

"NOW!" Eric snapped.

And finally, the two love birds left. Willa flinched again, so he threw her near a bar table, and she carefully sat on the stool, tears welling up.

Leaving was hard, he knew that. This had been their home for over 30 years. But there was no time for goodbye's now, not if they wanted to live. How could Pam not see that? He looked back at Willa. She looked like the common southern daddy's girl, it almost made this fun. She had pale white skin, and dark brown hair, with pink cheeks and rosy lips and big round brown eyes with thick eyelashes. Willa looked like a human doll, with a long vintage gown. She had an old fashioned beauty he liked. Too bad he had grown to hate white dresses lately.

He looked deeply into her brown eyes, but she stopped him. "You don't have to glamour me. I want to help you. I don't like what my father is doing any more than you do." She confessed.

Well then, finally some cooperation.

"Earlier, you mentioned something about experiments," He told her.

"It's...it's horrible," Willa said, looking down at the table.

"Tell me." He asked.

"Remember the ballot measures last year? None of that money went to the highway system,"

Politicians embezzling money? Groundbreaking. "Where did it go?"

"Some of it he spent on turning the Governor's mansion into a vampire fortress. Like, top top notch security. But most of the money... He used it to build a camp. It's part prison, part research facility. The vampires who are being arrested are not being taken to jail. They are studying y'all. Your biology, your physiology, psychology, shit like that. It's sick, sick shit."

"Where is this camp?"

"I don't know." He had come way too far to end up at this stupid answer. He reached for her and pulled her around the table with force, making her face him. "I don't know! I don't know!" She sobbed. "Please don't kill me, the only reason I know any of this shit is because I've been snooping around, I swear I don't know!"

He knew she wasn't lying. Glamouring her wouldn't be much help either. An idea he hated popped in his head. It went a bit beyond than killing her. He knew right away he couldn't tell Pam. Not being able to trust her killed part of him. The echoes of high heeled boots came in, as Pam and Tara strutted back holding a single cardboard box with some papers, photos and jewellery boxes.

"The only thing your daddy left us, fits in this box," Pam told Willa in a sour note.

"Good." Eric stood up. "Now let's go. Willa, you're coming with,"

"FUCK NO! She is not coming with! Tear her head off and leave it on her body for her daddy to find and have that image seared in his brain forever. Or do as Tara suggested but don't bring her with!" Pam shouted.

"None of this is ours anymore!" He explained. "Burrell already took it and we have nothing to negotiate with. No weapons to fight with! The whole world is at war against us and there is no place to run. All we have is her, so the girl lives," for now. "The world is changing Pam, and we have to change with it."

"That's rich coming from you." Pam scoffed.

Eric never wanted to snap her neck so much as he did right now. "Say that again," He dared her, lightly pushing her around with his torso, both their faces were inches apart.

Why God, WHY couldn't Pam just go with the fucking flow for once? Why did she have to fight him at every turn, question him every time he opened his fucking mouth? This was not the Pam he knew and loved. He was starting to hate whoever this blonde vampire was who looked at him with so much hurt in her eyes.

But she didn't say anything. She didn't have to. Without a single word, the two of them had an entire conversation with just their eyes. Resentment. Anger. Hurt. The truth was, Eric loved Pamela. He loved her more than anyone he had ever loved before. But he wasn't in love with her. He didn't make her his whole world. Their blood was broken and Pam was an untethered ship lost in a stormy ocean, merely pretending these were the water she was used to. He had let her go, but she refused to leave. To live her own life, as he commanded her to do so. To Pam, Eric was her whole world. To Eric…

Pam's anger probably came from the fact she alone wasn't enough for him. She discovered that with Sookie, and then again with Raven. Maybe for a moment, Pam thought Eric would come back after he lost them as he did with all the other women he ever fell for in the past. It gave her hope things would go back to normal again. But what Pam didn't understand is that Raven wasn't a fling. Raven Blackwood was his, in a way no one else ever was. She took a vow not even God herself could break. Raven was worth standing up to a King for. She was worth all the bonds he lost. She was worth killing and dying for.

And just like anyone he ever loved, he lost her. But her death brought the realization that he was the one to blame for all the loss he's ever had. Godric killed himself because Eric wasn't enough. Sookie denied him because of all the lies he told her. Nora left him because he pushed her away. Raven died because he killed her.

All he could do was try to fix the whole world just so Pam could live.

No pressure.

* * *

They stepped inside Ginger's small house, decorated in the most awful taste - but it wasn't surprising at all since it was Ginger. It was as if she bought everything at Ross's decor section during the last 10 Halloweens. Ginger was also now… A redhead? She had bright red but poorly dyed hair. She was, as always, way too happy to see Eric, but the excitement quickly faded away when she realized he didn't drop by for a sexy visit as he had brought Pam, Tara and another woman with him.

"Ginger, Tara and I will be using your queen-sized coffin tonight, Pam and Tara you take the basement."

"Uhm, okay," she agreed. "But where do I sleep?"

"Of course you are sleeping with her," Pam groaned, rolling her eyes.

"You are going to take issue with who I sleep with now?!"

"Yes Eric, I take issue when you sleep with the girl who reminds you of your little -"

"The girl is sleeping with me Pamela, because I don't trust you not to kill her!" He roared.

His patience was gone. He thought he knew why she was acting this way, but he was done with it either way. If he could release this fucking bitch again, he would. At this point, he questioned if he should bother trying to save her at all. Pam didn't dare yell back at him, she just disappeared down Ginger's basement. He could hear her sobs.

Still pissed off, he entered the master bedroom, Ginger following him close at the heel. In the small room sat an enormous black, red velvet-lined casket which took most of the space. He threw Willa into the coffin and then got in it himself. It was surprisingly comfortable. He ordered Ginger to lock the coffin from the outside so Willa could not escape during the day. Hesitant and disappointed she wasn't going to be joining them in her coffin, Ginger Finally closed the lid, shutting out the shitstorm of a night he had.

Inside, finally some silence. All he could hear was Willa's calm breathing and heart beating. He could feel the warmth of her skin beside him. He couldn't help it but imagine she was someone else. And in an instant, he drifted into the deepest sleep he had in months.

* * *

"Mister," a whispering voice woke him. "Mister. Hey Mister,"

He could tell it was sometime during the day. His body felt heavy and slow. He completely forgot humans had biological clocks that woke them during the day, regardless of how late they went to sleep. She must have been awake for quite a while because if she was speaking, she took the duck tape off her mouth. Which meant she also got her wrist restraints off. Good thing the coffin was locked.

"I'm a vampire. I'm meant to be dead during the day," he told her. "Now put your tape back on."

"I thought you might wanna talk," her voice was soft, whispering sweetly.

"No."

"Remember last year," for fuck's sake, here we go. "When the scandal broke out that my daddy was having an affair and that's why my mom left? Well, it was actually the other way around. She had an affair with a vampire-"

Eric opened his eyes. Now this was interesting. "Really?"

"Yes," she batted her long eyelashes. "He owns a bar out in Hollywood, kind of like yours."

"There's only one Fangtasia, Willa."

"Totally, yeah, of course," she agreed. "Anyway, I really wanted to move out to California to live with my mom and her boyfriend,"

Eric wasn't an idiot. He knew where this was going. "Is this your way of telling me you are 'okay' with vampires? That you're open-minded?"

"No! I'm just making conversation, I guess. Trying to distract myself from the fact I might not have much time left to live. But to answer your question, I do like vampires. Very much." She glanced at his lips and he heard her heart skip a little beat. She blushed and gazed at his eyes deeply. Willa had beautiful brown eyes. He could feel her skin getting hotter and the slightest scent of arousal filled the coffin. But she wasn't the one he really wanted, despite having some resemblance to her. But Willa couldn't be more different than Raven. She didn' tell Eric to fuck off once, for starters. Willa leaned towards him, lips almost touching. Her finger caressed his jaw, towards his ear lobe. "You have the bleeds," she whispered, touching the blood that seeped out.

"Like I said, I'm meant to be dead during the day," his face an inch from hers.

He seriously considered fucking her for a moment. The sweet scent of her arousal was getting to him. The way she touched him. How she looked at him. She wanted this. Surely fucking her would royally piss her daddy off. Her hand recoiled towards her mouth, the tip of her finger was red with his blood. He quickly grabbed her wrist and stopped her.

"I can't let you do that," he told her before putting her finger in his mouth and licking his blood off. She breathed harder feeling his tongue on her finger. Having a blood bond was not something he would ever take lightly ever again. He craved Raven all over again. It was like a hunger that nothing else could satisfy. So much for trying to forget her.

Eric pulled away, putting some distance between him and the human. "Put your tape back on."

And he closed his eyes, waiting to fall asleep again. A memory played in his head. In another life… I would have loved you so much more than this. That's what he told her as she died. But he was still stuck in this life without her. And he still loved her without her being here. He loved her alone.

* * *

It had been another shitty night so far. They had to run from Ginger's the second they woke up from the Governor's armed forces. It seemed like the guy had his own private military, which was surprising that Louisiana could afford such luxury, considering how run-down the whole state was. Eric told Tara and Pam to leave Louisiana immediately and never return. He told them to go to Dallas, as Texas was more vampire friendly. He would meet them there the next night. He didn't stay long enough to hear Pam yell at him for not coming with them. Instead, he just flew away with Willa and landed in a closed small amusement park, about fifty miles away from Ginger's house. He was now on Plan R or S, he had lost track but he knew the options were running out and quickly.

He was dreading what he was going to do next. He was going to make Willa his progeny. It was time to have a blood bond with this stranger. But there was no other way out.

Willa agreed to turn but asked him not to die a virgin. Of course, Willa Burrell is a virgin. Despite being a, you know - huge sacrifice on his part - he complied. The sex was okay, he tried to make it as nice and gentle as he could. She smiled when they were finished, between heavy breathing she thanked him. Then, he killed her. This was the only way for Burrell to see vampires as beings was to turn the only person the man loved into one of them. Vampires may not be human, or alive, but they still had souls. The Louisiana Governor was definitely the most extremist of politicians when it came to vampires, but if he were successful at eliminating vampires, quickly other states were following suit. Soon, the whole world would be one LAVTF. Vampires would have to disappear as witches did centuries ago. It would take at least another thousand years for humans to forget them enough to wonder if they were really real. And with today's technology, there was a very real chance that humans may never forget.

Still, it weighed Eric heavily. He didn't want a bond with Willa. The girl seemed nice and sweet, and most definitely had a touch of Stockholm syndrome. But Eric didn't want any of these things. Sure she was beautiful, but she wasn't the one he really wanted. Despite Willa agreeing to help him, he doubted she really knew what she wanted. She was barely a woman. All Willa wanted was to stick it to daddy. But he didn't care enough about her to explain what she was about to become. In fact, it was easier not caring about her at all.

* * *

Eric hated waking up underground. It was cold, smelly, hard to breathe, and dirt always got under his clothes. Plus it was hard to get the smell of damp earth off his hair. He pushed the dirt off, dug his way out of the shallow grave and examined his surroundings. There was no one around the small park. Human curfew had its pros after all. Now he had to get things going if he wanted to make it to Dallas all in one piece.

"Willa, get up," he told her.

He reached for his phone. No new messages.

Did you get to where I told you to go? He texted Pamela, being extra careful in case their phones were hacked.

Where the fuck are you? He sent Nora. He hadn't heard from her since he shunned her from Fangtasia. He didn't even care if she had answers or not at this point. He just needed to know if she was okay.

He glanced at the unmoved dirt pile beside him. Willa didn't get up yet. Maybe she was too weak to dig herself out? Eric had only ever done this once before, with Pamela. He wasn't exactly a pro at making progenies. But still, he had hoped his blood would still make stronger progenies than that. He pushed the dirt off Willa, unburying her little body and bringing her out to the grass. She looked fast asleep still, her gown was completely dirty. The fang marks on her neck were still visible.

"Willa, come on," he poked her cold stiff body. "Willa?"

He poked her again. The smell of dead flesh hit his nostrils.

"Willa?" He called her out again, shaking her shoulders.

Willa was dead. And not vampire dead, but dead dead. It didn't work. Thoughts raced his mind a mile a second. She didn't turn. Why didn't she turn? He did everything right, they exchanged blood, she died and he buried them together.

At least I can still sire children, a cold voice said in his head.

"Fuck," he muttered under his breath.

It was Lilith.

She took away his ability to make progenies. Even this he had lost. For the first time in his life, Eric felt small. Even this was taken from him. Panic hit him suddenly, crashed into him like a wave hitting a rock. Eric just fucked, killed and buried the only plan he had left.

His phone buzzed, and he reached for it eagerly. "Finally," he said to himself, every fibre of his body aching for some good news.

But it wasn't Nora or Pam texting him back.

It was a picture sent by an unknown number which ultimately squashed and killed the very last bit of hope he had in him. The last bit of anything that he had left. It was a photo of a white circular room with bright white lights. The angle of the photo gave away it was a security camera footage of sorts. But inside the room, there were two women in dark grey jumpsuits: Pamela and Tara.

Burrell had taken them.

He had won.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N.: Hello!
> 
> The next chapters are going to be hella intense. Stakes are going to be higher than ever. Can't wait for next week already! Also, I may have to split one of the chapters into 2, so it might end up with 28 total chapters. I honestly have no idea how people write stories 2-3-4x longer than this one. I feel like I'm running a marathon already
> 
> Also, I revised and updated all of Blood Moon (book 1) and I will start revising Black Moon Lilith once I'm done writing/editing the ending. Again, no plot changes will be made.


	24. Her

Eric had to give up everything. It was all or nothing. There were no other plans, no half measures, no changing minds. Eric was all in, come hell or high water.

Turns out, it was hell that waited for him behind the prison gates. They handcuffed Eric and put him in a tiny standing silver cage. It wasn't much bigger than 2 feet by two feet. His wrists dangled in the cuffs by his shoulders. He was alone in a small room with metal walls and no windows. This was after Burrell played a sick game of gladiator, and Eric lost count how many vampires he killed in the short hours he had been here after he surrendered to the LAVTF. The last person they made him fight was Pamela. They tried pitting them against each other because the Governor wanted Eric to feel the pain he felt for losing his own child.

"You made another progeny?" She asked him in a tone he never heard from her before. "That's what you wanted?!"

They must have told her what Eric did. He killed Willa Burrell and buried her in a shallow grave. To vampires, that could only mean one thing: he tried to turn her. But Eric was starting to suspect they tried to brainwash her hatred and anger further with this information. Eric had to remind Pam of who he was: he was her Maker. She was his only childe - and Lilith made sure of that, for better or for worse.

"No." He said. "The only progeny I've ever wanted was you."

They both stared at each other with large wooden stakes in their hands. The room was already half painted in red from his previous kills. Over the speakers, they encourage Pamela to take the first shot against him. He stood his ground, looking deeply into his child's eyes. I'm right here Pam. I'm here for you. The fact that he surrendered to the Governor and went after her was all Pam needed to understand the lengths he was willing to go for her. She was the only reason he had left to live for. Without her, Eric Northman was nothing. They didn't need a blood bond, he didn't need to command her to do anything. He chose her to be her progeny. Even if Willa were a vampire right now, it would never compare to what Pam meant to him. Pam was his childe and nothing could ever destroy that. Burrell wanted a show? Fine. So they gave him one. They killed three guards who hid behind fake wall panels instead.

The Governor was also a fucking fool who somehow got in bed with Steve fucking Newlin. How in the world was that prick still alive, he had no idea, but man it was getting old. Newlin was like a cockroach, he just wouldn't die. He just moved from one hidey-hole to another.

Eric lost track of how long he stood in that small cage. He knew the sun had already been up for at least a couple of hours. His body felt like lead. But they made him uncomfortable enough so he would not sleep. He had gone days without sleeping before, but not without feeding. He had to find a way out of this place once the sunsets. Finally, the door unlocked and a man wearing a long white lab coat came into the room, pushing a cart. The doctor laid out a syringe with a long needle and filled it with a dark amber liquid. Before Eric could ask where the man had planned to inject him with whatever that was, Burrell walked into the room skipping and hopping as if he had won the lottery.

"Mr. Northman!" Burrell laughed like a little kid in a candy store.

"I detect a tone," Eric commented sarcastically.

Burrell banged on the cage all around him, as if Eric were a zoo animal. It sure was starting to feel like it. "Oh, you are dead Mr. Northman,"

"For a millennium now, yeah."

He laughed louder. "Oh no! I'm talking about the true death you smart ass. But I'm not gonna give you the courtesy of a quick one, oh no! You are going to suffer a lot."

Eric laughed too, putting his face closer to the cage's wall. "Did you know that your daughter liked calling me daddy too?"

The smile quickly left his face and he almost threw himself at the cage, but the man caught himself before getting too close. Eric was going to break him down, sooner or later and it was going to be so worth it.

"You are the confident type of guy, aren't you Mr. Northman?" The man in the lab coat finally spoke. "Won't admit defeat. I suppose we're just gonna have to show it to you."

The man opened the door and two panels on wheels were brought in: One held Nora and the other…

"No!" Eric yelled, tugging his wrists off the handcuffs unsuccessfully.

The other prisoner was Lilith. She looked unphased and unimpressed at all this. Nora looked scared.

Burrell started to laugh again. "Vamp Steve Newlin has come in handy with all the intel! He knows everything. About your little sister Nora, and your little girlfriend Raven."

"That is not Raven you dumbfucks! That is not even a vampire! What kind of fucking MORONS ARE YOU?"

But the short bald man just kept on laughing at Eric's desperation. Burrell stuck his index in her mouth, raising her upper lip a tad, taking a peek at her fangs. Lilith snapped with a bite but Burrell pulled away just in time and he laughed. "She looks like a fanger to me!"

"What do you want?!"

"I want my daughter back!" Burrell yelled.

"Trust me, if she were still alive, she wouldn't be with you. She begged me to take her-"

"Fuck you!" He grabbed on the cell with his short little fingers. "I want you to feel the same immeasurable loss that I feel. I want you to know what it's like to lose a part of who you are!"

"I already know that pain, Governor," He said, as he glanced at Lilith who looked at him curiously and slightly frowned.

"Well, you are about to all over again. I was going to use the tall blonde, but the shrink seems to have a thing for her. So a sister and a lover will have to do it. Proceed, doctor."

The man in the lab coat took a jab at Nora's neck who hissed and screamed.

"No!" Eric yelled again. "What are you doing to her?!"

"A fatal dose of what we call Hepatitis V, or Hep V as we call it," the man then approached Lilith. "Our team is certain it can be acquired quite easily too. Ingestion, blood exchange, and the good ol' injection."

The man then shot the yellow liquid into Lilith's neck and she didn't even flinch.

"They are our first hosts! Congrats on being a part of history!"

The Governor pushed both of their platforms closer to Eric's cage. Nora was now standing right in front of him, and Lilith to his right.

"Enjoy the show," he told him with an evil smile.

Both humans left the room, locking the door behind them. It was just the three of them now. Nora cried, red blood dripping down her face and onto her grey prison jumpsuit. What had they done?!

"I love you, brother." She whispered.

"I love you too, sister." He told her.

"I'm so sorry," she wept, looking at Lilith and then back at him. "I couldn't find a way to kill her, the best I could do was to lure her into a fight where I knew LAVTF would find us. I figured since humans built a vampire fortress, maybe it would at least hold her."

That was why Nora never came back? How long had she been here?! And something told him that if Lilith wanted to escape this hellhole, she would have with a snap of a finger. God wouldn't just be tied down with some seatbelt material and just… Do nothing? He could not even imagine the torture his sister had to endure this entire time, just to try to keep a promise. Especially after Newlin exposed their relationship to the Governor. This was way more than he asked for her to do.

"I forgive you Nora," he told her. And he meant it.

Nora started to groan in pain. Eric saw dark veins creep up her neck. Whatever the doctor gave her was actually killing her. He looked at Lilith - she was unchanged.

"Help her," he asked her. "Please!" But the creature did not move. "Lilith! She is your child, do something!"

"I feel hot," Nora cried. "I can't breathe-"

"You are going to be okay," he told her. "Lilith, help her! Give her some of your blood."

"No!" Nora yelled. "I won't have her blood again! You know what it does to me!"

"You are going to die if you don't! Lilith, I know you have the power to blow this place up with a blink of an eye, now please fucking DO SOMETHING!"

But she didn't. She just looked at the two as if she were watching a movie and none of this was happening in real life. Nora was starting to lose consciousness.

"You really need me to say the words?" He asked the red-eyed lady. "I believe you are God, I believe you came back! But I am begging you! Please! At least free me so I can-"

"Eric, she can't," Nora whispered. She was on the verge of passing out. The dark veins covered her face. "Our restraints are made of silver and iron. Lilith's powers are cut off because she's in the body of a witch. Trust me, she isn't so nice when she's not ironbound." Nora raised her head so she could look at her brother one last time. It took her all the energy she had. "I'm glad that you are here at my true death. You will be alright, Eric."

"No, I won't. I lost too much, I can't- I can't lose anymore."

"I know, Eric. But not all is lost, you still have Pam. Let Pam be yours again, I know she wants to."

Sure Pam didn't try to kill him in the white room, and he proved to her he still cared about her. But the two still had a long way to go to fix their relationship. Eric couldn't help but feel like he let Nora down. She had gone to great lengths to protect him and he fell short. He didn't save his little sister after all, as Godric told him to.

"I promised you forever, Nora. I'm so sorry I failed you."

"No, I only wanted to live fully, not forever. And what an incredible life I've lived because of you, big brother-"

Nora closed her eyes and he watched her skin turn grey. Eric hung his head low, not bearing to look. But he still heard the noise her body made as it turned into goop, sliding down the metal frame she was tied to. He could see the red puddle on the floor creeping towards his feet. His sister was dead.

"Are you fucking happy?" He asked Lilith. "They are slaughtering us in this place and you don't even care. I guess you too took genocide as a hobby lately."

"Death is a small price to pay for greatness."

"Don't think Warlow would agree on that one," he told her, and she frowned at the mention of his name. "May he rest in pieces."

But she took a jab right back at him. "Same can be said for little Willa."

She knew.

"It was you, wasn't it?"

She smiled big, showing her fangs. "No more progenies for you, Eric Northman."

"You really fucked me, did you know that? She was our only shot at stopping this."

"You really think her daddy would have cared if she were one of you? He would have thrown her in here and thrown away the key."

"You don't know that,"

"Oh but I do," she insisted.

"So how could you not give a shit? You literally created us. We are your children too… Or whatever."

"Vampires? That was more of a… What do you people call it again? An oopsie? I saw Warlow… And I just needed to have him. He was the first creature I've met who was not created by my God… Or my ex. He was pure."

Eric couldn't help but burst in laughter. All of this: the Book of Vampyr, the sanguinistas, the whole purpose of the Authority… It was all based on a God who didn't give two shits about them at all. They were a byproduct of her own corruption. All of Nora's life was devoted to actual nothing. The irony of it… It was so painful it was actually hysterical.

"Ah, fuck…" he laughed, feeling his tears drip down his face. "If you only knew how many have died in your name…"

"In my name? No. They died because someone wrote a book and everyone decided to make it the unquestionable truth and absolute law. Just like humans do for their Gods. Even my witches do the same for Lucifer. I hope to rectify that someday. I want all my children, old and new to know their true Maker."

She rested her head back on the metal panel behind her. He could tell she was frustrated by the limitations of her new body. Which again, gave him the hope he needed. This was still Raven's body. She was still somewhere in there, he didn't know how he knew, but he did, just as he did when Sookie was missing. Eric felt a fire ignite within him. He was going to see her again. He was going to get her back.

The door unlocked again, and the guards came in. With multiple high tech guns pointed at him, they unlocked his cage and took him out, keeping his wrists cuffed together. Another human walked behind Lilith's panel, tilted it, and pushed it forward like a hand truck, wheeling her out of the room. Two guards poked Eric in the ribs, motioning him to follow Lilith down a long narrow hallway. They didn't cover his head with a hood this time. No, Burrell wanted him to watch. They passed a hallway with multiple windows that looked into research rooms. Willa was not exaggerating: vampires were being studied like lab rats. From fucking to fang extraction, to getting body parts cut off, to giant hamster wheels. In one room they zapped vampires with UV, silver, and acids and scientists just watched their flesh melt and heal again, completely ignoring their tears, pleas and agony. He moved as fast as he could, trying not to watch the torture but his body felt slow and heavy. The day time was affecting him. God, did they do any of this to Pam? To Nora?

Eric noticed security cameras everywhere. They were filming this insanity? Clearly the Governor didn't care if any of this got leaked. Maybe he didn't care because he knew there would be no real consequences. Humans would watch vampires get tortured and not lift a single finger. To them, vampires had no humanity, no rights, they weren't even living beings. He could still hear the screams from the research rooms from multiple rooms away. Humans didn't even treat animals this way. Did they really deserve this? Was Godric right all along?

Finally, they took them to a place he had been before: the white circular room. Eric walked in first, with his hands up and the guard uncuffed him. The other human wheeled in Lilith right behind him and parked her in the middle of the room. They then turned around and left the room, locking the heavy door behind them.

The room had bright fluorescent lighting that buzzed with an annoying high pitched frequency. It smelled strongly of bleach. Why did they bother mopping and cleaning the blood of vampires killed in this room, he did not know. He looked at the mirrored glass on the wall. He could hear heartbeats from the other side. He knew who was on the other side watching.

"Have you read Willa's autopsy report yet?" Eric asked calmly, approaching the window. "If you haven't, I can tell you what's on it."

"Listen here you dead fuck," his voice echoed in the speakers above. "I don't need you to me how you raped her-"

"Raped her? Oh no, Governor. Oh no, no. I would never do such a thing. Your Willa took after her mommy," he said with the biggest smirk, staring right into the mirrored glass pane on the wall. He was going to break the Governor, one mental image at a time.

After a moment of silence, Burrell spoke again. "Untie her."

Eric stiffened a bit. Trust me, she isn't so nice when she's not ironbound, Nora warned him.

"And if I don't?" He asked.

A moment later, four panels moved high above in the circular chamber. Automated tactical crossbows peaked out from each window. Eric scoffed and rolled his eyes. Millions of dollars wasted on studying vampires in a secret bunker and they haven't learned about vampire speed? "Really? You think I can't outrun your stupid little arrows?"

All four crossbows shot at once, but Eric was not the target. Faster than a reflex, Eric threw himself on top of Raven, and took three of the arrows: one on his left shoulder, one of his left thigh and the last one on his right bicep. The fourth arrow bounced off the top of the metal panel behind Raven, missing his face by an inch.

He could hear laughter and excited screams from the room behind the glass. "Like I said, untie her," Burrell repeated.

Eric pulled out the metal arrows off his body, avoiding the look Lilith was giving him. She had a dumb smile on her face.

"You know I wouldn't have died," she told him with a smirk.

"I wasn't saving you," Eric pulled the last arrow out, the one on his bicep. It had hit the bone, and bone injuries always stung like a bitch.

He looked at her metal restraints. There was no telling on what Lilith would do if he let her go. She would either nuke this entire place or disappear faster than he could say fuck. Or… He could kill her. Ripping the head off the body usually did the trick. Lilith could see him struggling to decide on what to do. He didn't know how, or why, but something told him to let her go. Raven took a vow, Lilith could do him no harm. Trying not to think how bad the worst-case scenario would be, his hands started to undo her restraints, starting at her chest. He stood uncomfortably close to her.

Lilith watched his hands work with curious eyes. "You are an enigma to me," she told him. He tried to ignore her, but she continued. "Her life got so much worse after you knocked on her door,"

"Be quiet," he ordered her, but she insisted.

"Since she's met you, Raven lost everything and everyone she's ever loved, " Lilith added.

Eric felt a pit in his throat, his fingers slightly trembled while undoing her restraints. The demon was right.

"Raven gives you your memories back, and what do you do? You betray her. She saves you again, she takes bullets for you, invites her into her house, and what do you do? Let her make a bad deal with vampires you don't trust. She saves you from them, gives you safe haven and refuge and what do you do?"

You kill her.

"Shut your fucking mouth!"

"A little faster Mr. Northman, I am a busy man, I got places to be." Burrell barked impatiently.

What the hell did the Governor have planned for now? Eric kneeled down to break her restraints around her thighs and legs. Burrell was going to make him kill her, wasn't he? Maybe this way she would shut the fuck up.

"But yet…" She added. "You are all she thinks about. You are all she wants. You are the only thing she misses,"

Eric froze in place before opening the last of her chains. Thinks? Wants? Misses? As in… Right now? He looked up at the woman he loved while still on his knees but Lilith paid him no attention. She just simply stepped out of the iron straps that held her, as if she were taking off slip shoes. Lilith turned her left index nail into a long dark claw and cut her right palm open. Red blood gushed from her small hand. Eric could smell its sweet scent from where he was. It was… Intoxicating. Lilith circled the room, walking next to the empty walls. She dragged her bloody finger lightly on the wall, leaving a trail of blood.

"Alright lovebirds, here's the deal: only one of you gets to live," Burrell spoke again. "And Mr. Northman, my money isn't on you, sorry. Newlin here tells me your little girlfriend is a bit pissed at you, and I'm afraid she's going to eat you like fucking cake."

Eric smirked and shook his head while getting up. "She won't."

You are all she thinks about. You are all she wants. You are the only thing she misses.

Raven was still alive. It all could easily be a trick, a dirty lie just so Eric wouldn't harm the vessel Lilith was in. In fact, it was painfully obvious the demon was using Raven's memories against him and just telling him what he wanted to hear. But what Lilith didn't know was she had just made the biggest mistake she could have ever made.

Lilith gave him hope.

Hope that Raven was still alive, she was still his, she could still love him… Hope was all he needed. The little voice in his voice who told him to hang on to her memory. He spent months trying to silence that voice. To numb it, and everything else along with it. But he could not bear to.

"Why not?" Burrell asked angrily.

"Because she's mine," Eric answered.

Eric watched Lilith closely. She was muttering words in Latin, and she was almost back to where she'd started. She was drawing a circle. He didn't know much about magic, but he did it heavily involved circles. Lilith was going to break them out of here, and when she did… He was going to polish that man's bald head and use it as a literal bowling ball.

The instant Lilith closed the blood circle, the glass window shattered in a million pieces. In fact, everything made out of glass had shattered in the observing room behind the panel. She had unleashed a destructive pulse from her blood circle, breaking every single window pane, lightbulb, and glass surfaces in the whole facility. In a flash, Lilith crawled in the room. Blood splattered everywhere, along with screams and gunshots. She moved like an animal, taking the humans apart limb by limb. She screeched like an owl, digging inside a guard's body like she had lost something in there.

Burrell is mine, Eric thought, jumping into the room quickly. The hallway door was opened, and through the carnage, he didn't find him. The Governor had escaped. Eric had to find Pam, and quickly. Suddenly the alarms sounded.

"Security breach, wing 6. All personnel, priority one. Security breach, wing 6. All personnel, priority one."

"Hey!" Eric called out to Lilith, who was busy eating a man's liver raw.

"This isn't the human you wanted, was it?" She asked while chewing the dark flesh with her mouth open.

"No," he said, a bit disgusted. "There's a lot more of where that came from, let's go."

Eric walked behind Lilith, who destroyed everything in her way. Bullets just stopped midair and dropped to the ground like pebbles. She threw bodies against the walls as if they were ragdolls, and redirected the wrist and arms of gunmen, making them shoot their fellow guards instead - all with her mind. Lilith tore an arm off a scientist and ate it like a turkey leg in a carnival. She looked like she was having fun almost. The ground crinkled with shattered glass. All the UV lights installed in the place had blown up too, thanks to Lilith. The place was dark, only lit by some emergency lights. They entered three different wings and Eric freed all vampires from their cells.

"Go forth and kill all the humans!" He ordered them.

The guards quickly lost control of the place. Yet, there was no sign of Pam or Tara. Eric looked at the clock and realized this plan was going to be short-lived: it was only 3:54 PM - the middle of the afternoon. They could gain control of this place, but they couldn't leave until sundown. That gave humans three whole hours to nuke this place remotely or activate some form of fail-safe.

He didn't want to go like this. Alone. He had to find Pam.

A loud howling scream echoed throughout the place, louder than any siren or shout. It was full of pain, terror and anger. Eric turned around just to find Lilith standing in the middle of cell room 4, amidst the chaos. She was bent over, hands on her stomach and throwing up black tar. The black substance quickly vanished away as dust, disappearing into the darkness.

She stood small, quiet. In the storm of gunshots, screams, vampires and humans turning into red splatters against the walls, she was silent. Her head turned, searching throughout the manic crowd. Somehow he knew she was looking for him. Their eyes locked across the room and he lost all breath.

Her eyes were blue.

It was her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did I - or did I not - tell you I knew what I was doing?
> 
> Sorry it took so long, it had to be THIS moment. Thanks to all who commented, telling me you missed her and wanted her back. I love that you love her too. I just wanted you to grieve with Eric. Feel that part of him missing.
> 
> To know the hows and whys, you'll have to wait until the next chapter.
> 
> xoxo


	25. The Circle

Raven walked, and walked and walked some more. She didn't get tired, or sleepy, thirsty or cold. She just wandered, for what it seemed like weeks. Months? Years? Time did not pass here. She found herself stuck on an eternal night. The clear night sky, the constant moon and the stars in the sky mocked her. Raven trailed down the winding path across the woods. Every so often the path would fork, or end abruptly so she had to turn around and walk the other way. She walked aimlessly, purposeless, in circles, towards nothing in particular. She became a lost ghost. Lost in the woods, lost in her own sadness, in her own anger.

When she first woke up here she immediately tried to go back. She pinched herself purple trying to wake up. The world didn't stop - she had to get back home. Raven had to go back and find Jesus. Raven had to see it with her own eyes what her actions had done. Something inside her knew he had died. This was a time to mourn with Lafayette and Holly. She hoped with every ounce of her soul that they would forgive her for his death. But Raven soon discovered she couldn't wake up. But no matter what she did, she was stuck here.

Despair crept in. The loneliness. The silence. Raven had to find something within herself to hold on to. She chose Eric. Raven tortured herself by believing Eric would appear in her dreams. Despite knowing what happened, knowing their blood bond had broken again, she felt him so strongly in her heart Raven knew she would see him in the woods. She longed so much for him, that she would will him into existence into her personal purgatory. They would walk together again. She would look at his blue eyes again. He would try to ask for forgiveness and she would kiss the words right off his lips. There was nothing to forgive, she would tell him. Then she would be in his arms.

But he never came.

No one did.

So much time passed, this place started to get under her skin. The absolute silence, the constant darkness, the same winding paths, the same fucking trees. The same cold feeling under her feet. The dream, as she realized, was a nightmare. Raven was so fucking angry at herself. She was so fucking angry at death. Was this really all there was?! Just fucking trees? And paths that led to nowhere?! What was the fucking point? Was this some kind of fucking test? Some kind of sick joke? All her sorrow and pain was growing, filling the air, pressure rising, and it was inevitably about to blow up. All the lies from her family and her father were stacking up, and she couldn't take it anymore. Never in her life, she thought she would actually slightly cherish the memory of her sisters' death. That's how far down she got in her own rock bottom of despair.

Why? She asked herself.

Rage consumed her. It burned so deeply in her chest Raven tried to set the woods on fire. She didn't even care if she burned with it - in fact, she hoped she did. But the goddamn trees would not burn. She tried to push them off the earth, but they would not tilt. She scratched at the trees, gnawing on the bark with her nails, but barely left a dent. Any marks quickly healed before her eyes, as if she did nothing at all. Then she screamed. She howled all her pain at the moon. The earth did not crack this time. There was some kind of protective spell in these woods.

So she walked some more. Between the haunted trees of the same dream she had for over two hundred years, she lived. Raven talked to herself, she burst into tears sometimes. She reflected a lot about her life. Raven thought of her father a lot. She wondered if he grieved at all, despite being responsible for this. She couldn't help but ask herself why. Why go through all the trouble? Why live with such lies? Did it even weigh on his conscience at all? She imagined how asking him all these questions would go if she ever saw him again. In her head, Raven was so brave. She spoke so boldly, her rage was so eloquent. Why did you put so much pressure on me to be so great if all you were going to was to exile me to oblivion? Or am I here because I failed to meet your impossible standards? Why couldn't you have been just a regular dad? One who raised his daughter himself, one who showed up on her birthday, and held her when she cried?

But in truth, her anger would have been just destructive. Elijah would have just looked at her sternly, standing still behind his cane. He would give her a look. The unexplainable look parents have that tell you all you need to know. Elijah's look kept Raven 10 feet apart. Her father was untouchable, unattainable, unavailable. If he had emotions at all, they were not shown. Raven always wished he just said the words out loud, even if they confirmed her worst fears.

You were not worth losing your mother for. You better serve me being nowhere at all.

Raven would then wait until he left the house, and then she would cry. That is what would happen in real life. He would give her nothing, just like he always did. And she would do nothing but keep on hoping that maybe Elijah would meet her expectations of him someday. There was no point standing up to him. He would never become the person she wished he was. He was better forgotten.

Whenever her mind wasn't fantasizing about angry chats with her father, she often thought of Eric Northman. She missed him. She missed how he made her feel everything so intensely. The vampire had a talent for getting quickly annoying her, but he also made her feel brave and strong, and important. She knew these woods like the back of her hand by now. She really wished he was here with her. She craved him. Everything about him. His incessant questions, his touch, his intense gaze, his smirk.

Raven also talked to Eric in her head sometimes - if it was just the loneliness or if she was going crazy, she didn't know. It didn't really matter. She remembered leaving the Halloween party at Fangtasia and trying to hail a cab. Raven remembered spending so much time wishing she had never met him; that she had never joined this new coven; that he had never kissed her on the sidewalk, or took her to his place. Raven would never forget how he looked at her when she walked of Moon Goddess Emporium. How he looked her at while she was bleeding out. How he looked at her every time he walked into a room. So much time wasted, wishing he had never even knocked on her door, and wondering what life would be like without him.

Well, she knew how it would be like now. It was dark, empty and painstakingly lonely. Raven spent half of her life alone. Maybe she learned to like it that way, maybe she lied to herself because being alone was easier. No one can disappoint you, no one can lie to you, no one can hurt you, no one can leave you - it was safer. You can't lose anyone if you don't have anyone at all. But Raven didn't want to be alone anymore. She wanted to be with him. And it only took losing him forever for her to realize it.

It was a new kind of pain she had never felt before. It ached like grief, but how could she grieve something she never really had? She grieved all the nights she wouldn't wake up with him. She grieved all the laughs, all the touches, all the kisses that she never got to have. Raven grieved the life she would have.

Raven often remembered Eric's kiss. It was the kind of kiss that devoured you. It was ruthless, breath-stealing, hypnotizing. It was... real. Eric Northman was the first man to have really kissed her. He knew exactly who and what she was, and wanted her anyway. And he wanted her over, and over again. Every time their bond was shattered, they ran into each other the first second they could. He wanted her completely and entirely, just like she wanted him. Raven lost herself in him, every time they touched. The world ceased to exist every time she kissed him. And she re-entered into a whole, brand new world after their lips parted. She stepped into a world where she was wanted, just as she was.

She looked up, catching a glimpse of the dark sky. She longed for a breeze on her face. To feel the air blowing loudly in her ears, like when Eric flew with her. The memory comforted her for a moment. Holding Eric's neck and shoulders, hiding her face on the curve of his neck, pressing her body tightly against his while he flew through the air like magic. Which was funny, because she was magical and not even Raven could fly, but he could. Feeling Eric hold her weight entirely. Trusting him wholeheartedly, even though she was told her entire life that vampires were vile, and cruel and would drain her dry at first glance. How wrong all of them were.

In another lifetime I would have loved you so much more than this, it was the last thing he told her.

"In what lifetime Eric?!" She shouted desperately to no one. "Where?! When?!"

Raven was starting to believe she would never see Eric again. Being here suddenly became unbearable. She longed so much for him, she could swear she could feel his presence nearby. Her body felt his pull, but he wasn't there. It was driving her insane. She could feel her skin being eager to touch him, but he was nowhere to be found. His presence was an invisible ghost, stuck there with her. One she could never reach for, one she could never see or hear. Eric had been gone for an eternity, but her heart still yearned for him. Raven knew she was doomed to be alone in these fucking woods forever. If he were here, she would ask him to fly away with her. Being in his arms, feeling the air brush over her skin. If only she could pretend she was flying with him, just for a minute. Next moment she saw a large rock nestled between two trees, about ten feet off the path. And idea popped in her head. Quickly, she ran to it, and climbed the large rock. She awkwardly knelt over it and closed her eyes, stretching her fingers over the moss on the stone.

"Surgo." Raven declared.

The rock shook and made a loud crackle when it left the ground. She crouched carefully, trying to steady herself on the floating rock. Raven felt the butterflies on her stomach and the rock rose upwards, away from the ground. She couldn't help but smile. Witches didn't fly, but standing on a flying object had to be close enough. Why humans thought they would choose a broom of all things, she didn't know. The stone got higher and higher, further and further away from the ground. She was carefully passing branches, and soon she would reach the treetops. From the high angle, she noticed the path she left wounded in a funny way. For a moment, it looked like… No, it can't be. It was just her imagination. Raven spent way too much time alone here.

She was now above the never-ending forest, and the dark sky above her had no stars. She closed her eyes and felt the air rush on her ears as she went up higher and higher. Raven embraced the butterfly in her stomach. She could feel Eric as if he were right beside her. She didn't know how, or why, or if it was even real or just wishful thinking.

When Raven opened her eyes again, she looked down - almost as a reflex. That's when she saw it - the path. It wasn't her imagination. The path wasn't a path at all. She recognized it right away - it was the third magic circle. It was huge, maybe half a mile in diameter. She couldn't see it before, because she had been in it the entire time. Raven was shocked. She accelerated the speed on the rock, flying higher faster. Overlapping the third circle, was the fifth magic circle. Both shared one similar rune, and that is where they overlapped. And from up higher, she recognized the seventh circle, overlapping the fifth over the identical rune they shared. The higher she got, the clearer the larger picture became. Raven saw the tenth circle, the first, the eighth. She floated to what appeared to be the middle. All 13 circles were there, and together they formed a new one: the 14th circle. It was beautifully complicated, put together in one very specific formation which allowed the runes to overlap perfectly, turning the circles into one large intricate mandala of magic keys.

There was no question in her mind who was behind this. This had to be the work of the greatest conjurer of her lifetime. Agatha was the creator of seven out of the 13 common circles used in magic. The woman was obsessed with them. She made Raven draw the circles every single day as homework. She did this so much she could recite it as second nature.

First circle: water energy.

Second circle: fire energy.

Third circle: air magic.

Fourth circle: earth magic.

Fifth circle: Key of Solomon - evocation magic.

Sixth circle: key of abjuration.

Seventh circle: key of inner energy.

Eighth circle: key of demons.

Ninth circle: key of spirits.

Tenth circle: key of illusion.

Eleventh circle: key of transmutation.

Twelfth circle: key of angels.

Thirteenth circle: key of cosmos.

She memorized every rune placement, every line angle, every inscription, every spell to be used with which key (and there were many!). But Agatha never told her the circles went together. In every book Raven has ever read, each circle was used for a different kind of magic. Key of Solomon was her go-to as an Enchantress. The sixth key she used for protective spells in her house. Mabel was a healer and used only the first and seventh circles. Harriet was a medium and used mostly just the ninth. No witch or warlock (with the exception of Agatha) knew all circles in-depth, just the ones their denomination needed. Conjurers often boasted about being the most well-versed in circle magic, as their denomination used eight out of the thirteen circles. But in no book, not anywhere, they were ever put together.

What would happen if she just… Activated them? All at once? What did this new circle configuration do? Raven was no stranger to experimenting with all the circles. Her tracking magic methods, combined more than one circle in the same spell. What would happen if Raven used all the magic in the world at once?

Would I go home? And just as that thought popped into her head, her house was not what came to mind. A certain vampire was.

All worries vanished. It's all or nothing. Raven didn't care if she died, or ceased to exist, or if the world imploded if she activated this circle. If it meant going back, there was no question about it. She was not going to spend another second in this forsaken place.

She stopped the rock midair, holding it still several feet high up from the ground. She carefully stood up and stuck arms out, palms facing down. Activating all circles together would take a hell lot of energy. Raven focused all the magic she had - all of it. Static electricity immediately crackled all around her, like little fireflies prickling at her skin. She took a deep breath, steading her heart. Her entire life flashed in front of her eyes. Agatha's gentle voice whispered in the back of her mind. Have you drawn your circles today, Raven? Go do it while I finish supper. Raven knew she would have to pour all of herself in it. The path was the key. This dream was no coincidence, it all meant something. This place wasn't entirely a dream either - it was a gift. Raven realized in that moment Elijah wasn't really her father. Lilith or Marion weren't really her mother either. She only had one parent who mattered, and it was Agatha Beekman. She also had four incredible sisters. But Agatha raised her, loved her, fed her, taught her right from wrong, taught her magic. Taught her how to think. To question. To love. And she may never understand why Agatha did certain things that she did, but Raven forgave her. Everything Agatha had ever done, she's done out of love for Raven. She could see that now.

The massive maze of paths beneath her started to light up, slowly, gently. It needed more magic, way more. Raven never used this much magic at once before. Her heart was pounding fast in her chest. More, she thought, pushing her magic further than she had ever pushed before. Raven didn't even care if she somehow ended up using all of her magic. There was a strong possibility she would faint and fall from this rock, and die from the crash. It's all or nothing. Every fibre in her body was vibrating with all the power running through her veins. The circle lit up brightly. Every rune, every curve, every line perfectly orchestrated. Agatha Beekman was a genius. She was the one who designed 7 out of the 13 magic keys. They were widespreadly used by witches and warlocks for more than a millennia. Raven had a whole shelf worth of books written by her on so many topics, from circle architecture, conjuration, demonology, magic theory. Raven had read them over and over again through the years, but none spoke about this. No, this she kept off the books. This was a secret Agatha passed onto Raven without her even knowing. Raven didn't know how Agatha did this, but she was starting to realize why she did this. Agatha knew about her father, she knew about Lilith, about her fate. She knew harm was on Raven's path and she created all of this to save her. Agatha did this because she was her mom.

And mothers protect their children.

Well done Raven, now come in. Food is ready.

The circles underneath illuminated the entire forest, in the most beautiful shades of yellow, green and blue.

"I'm going home," Raven whispered as she let it all go.

She let her magic pour out with everything she had. It was as if she had whispered her whole life, and now Raven was belting from the top of her lungs. She felt fire run in her blood. She felt ice form on her skin, burning cold. Her heart felt free. The lights beneath her became so bright she had to close her eyes for a second, not being able to look down below anymore. Suddenly something stormed in her stomach. A tinge of darkness got swollen by the enormous burst of light. At once, she threw up something bitter and thick in her mouth. Her whole body revolted against it. She spat whatever that was immediately.

Raven opened her eyes to try to catch a glimpse at it, but it vanished into ash in the air, like black smoke. Suddenly strange sounds surrounded her. They started quietly, as if far far away. Then they were right next to her, loud and clear. Alarms blaring, people screaming, guns shooting, fighting, yelling and crying. Raven was elsewhere. She didn't recognize this part of the Authority. It looked very different - fluorescent lights, blank white walls, metal floors, metal gates, tall ceilings, mezzanines. There were bodies in motion all around her. Her internal instincts blared VAMPIRES EVERYWHERE. HIDE IMMEDIATELY. VAMPIRES EVERYWHERE!

Raven was certainly out of the woods, and she was surrounded by vampires. They were indeed everywhere. But this was definitely not the Vampire Authority. Vampires wore odd grey jumpsuits as if this were a prison. The whole place did look like a prison. It was a large cage. Vampires growled and attacked human guards in a hostile takeover. Humans in turn shot at them with guns, tasers and batons. They were in riot gear, trying to contain the vampire uprising. Raven noticed she too, wore the same grey jumpsuit with the number 5 on her chest. She was also covered in blood. Her hands were stained with red, she could feel chunks of flesh on her wrists, between her fingers and under her nails. What the fuck? Raven was fucking confused, to say the least. Why the hell was she wearing the prison suit? And whose blood was on her hands? What had she done? How did she get here? Where was-

With a swoosh of air, Eric Northman suddenly stood right in front of her, wearing matching outfits. Everything went quiet again. Everything went still. His blue eyes were right in front of her. Her focus wouldn't leave the tall blonde in front of her. She lost all breath. Was this a dream? Was it real? His intense stare going right through her soul, the feeling she felt in her chest, the pull on her skin that called out for being in his arms was unmistakable. His large hands grazed her arms, holding her gently, testing if she were real. And for a moment, she didn't know what was real.

"Raven?" He whispered, he looked at her almost as if he didn't recognize her.

"Where am I? What happened?" She asked him.

Without a word, he leaned forward and kissed her. It was the kiss she craved for the eternity she spent in the woods. She embraced him and lost herself in his lips. Her hands pulled him close, holding his face tight against hers as if he were to vanish at any second. Was he real? Was any of this real? What she felt for him was like being whole. Like a full breath of air after not breathing for longer than she wanted to. She was home.

A loud rumbling noise came from above them. Suddenly, a warm light. Eric let her go immediately, with a growl. Raven looked up and saw a huge sunroof slowly crack open above them, letting bright sunshine in. The sun was warm and bright, high in the cloudless sky. She never thought she would fear sunlight. All the vampires burst into full-on panic. The crowd cried and screamed in terror, pushing themselves against the walls, hiding under tables, trying to escape the light that shined through the ceiling. Raven looked around; every room and every hallway around them had the same sunroof panels opening slowly rolling open everywhere - there was no escape. The whole place had a lid and it was opening like a can of sardines. She saw three vampires being thrown in the middle of the sunny hallway by guards, and they immediately burst into flames. One of them she recognized - he was at the Authority too. Steve-something.

Wait. Vampires were trying to take over a prison during the day?! Excellent timing.

Raven didn't have minutes to come up with a plan, she had seconds at best. She looked at Eric, who looked back at her with shimmering eyes. All other vampires looked terrified, watching the sunlight grow as a rug on the floor. Not him. He just looked at her peacefully. He smiled slightly as if saying goodbye. Even after all she's been through, her heart kept finding new ways to hurt.

No, she thought. No! She didn't come this far just to lose him like this. Raven did not defy death, her soul didn't transcend dimensions, she didn't unlock the world's most powerful and secret of magics just to have it end like this. She vowed herself to him, and she was going to do anything to save him.

Raven had to do the only thing she could think of: she had to stop the sun.

She summoned all her magic at once again, let it take over her like wildfire. She focused on the sunlight on her skin, recalling the fourteenth circle in her mind. Stopping the sun: it was big, it was bold, it was definitely forbidden. But if all she could was to buy more time, or make sure he was safe, this is what she was going to do.

"Quae obscura recondit clavem potentiae,"

Raven focused her breathing, slowed her heart rate. Electricity ran all through her body. She felt the vibration again. It started to resonate with the air around it. She could feel the whole room. Taste their fear, their cries were cries. Raven felt herself expand with each heartbeat. She felt everything - the air, the walls, the people around her. Her magic resonated much bigger on Earth than in the forest. She felt the whole prison, a desert, the sky, the whole city. Raven felt the sky, the dirt, the air, the oceans. Raven grew bigger and bigger, expanding like a ripple in the water. She could feel the entire earth. Her magic grew, it expanded, engulfed everything. She felt the moon.

"Verum est forma in conspectu tuo ostende mihi,"

Her feet lifted off the ground, she gently floated upwards. There was no more sound. All she could feel was the power that connected everything. She didn't even feel her body anymore. She floated, drifted in the universe like dust, just like everything else.

"Vocem meam audient vocem meam imperium,"

Raven pushed further, just like she did with the magic key. She felt everything spin, very slowly but with incredible force. Focus.

"Obscuro!"

The room darkened. There was no more light. Raven took a deep breath and she landed softly on the floor, her knees almost gave out, but Eric caught her. She looked up and she saw it, just past his face who looked at her curiously: an eclipse. The sun and moon were perfectly aligned, the sun was fully eclipsed. It was night again. Night in the middle of the afternoon.

Raven Blackwood just moved the fucking moon.

The whole place went quiet for a moment, everyone marvelled up at the sky, waiting for the eclipse to pass, but it didn't. The moon stayed still. It was beautiful. It is also forbidden, she remembered. She knew it was before she even did it, but it was worth it. There was no time to appreciate the bittersweetness of her biggest, and perhaps last magic spell, since everyone around her burst alive. The vampires roared as a coordinated battle cry and attacked the few humans left. Soon, they started to destroy the place - from throwing furniture around, to tearing down the walls. It was mayhem.

Eric still held her quietly, in the middle of the room, he looked deeply in her eyes. "Is this really you?"

"Who else would it be?" She chuckled. Eric wrapped his arms around her and held her so tight she could barely breathe, but she let him. "Eric I am so sorry-"

"Sorry?" He pulled away confused. "You are sorry?!"

"Sorry, it took me so long to find my way back to you,"

He softly smiled, putting his forehead against hers, his thumb brushed over her cheek for a moment before pulling away and helping her get up. "In this case, you are forgiven." He smirked.

"Eric!" A woman's voice cut through the mayhem. "Eric!"

"Pam?!" He looked around, anxious.

The tall blonde zig-zagged from across the room, dodging a guard being thrown down from the second floor. Pam hugged Eric tight, with streaks of red running down her face. She sobbed his name over and over again. Raven took a moment to look at the absolute zoo around her. She started to put the pieces together. This didn't only look awfully like a prison; the silver cage doors, the armed guards, the lack of windows... This was a prison, and it was made for vampires. How long had she been gone? What the hell happened? How did she get here? Any vampire who locked eyes with Raven quickly stepped back in fear. They were scared of her. Why? She saved them. What the hell is going on?

"Where the fuck is that bald micro-dick douchebag?" Pam asked, recomposing herself.

"Why? What did he do to you?! Did he experiment on you?!" Eric asked angrily.

"Experiment?" Raven repeated, incredulous. What the fuck-

"I swear to God if Burrell touched a hair on your head-"

Burrell… Louisiana Governor Truman Burrell?

"He killed Tara! He killed my child!" Pam's voice was filled with sadness.

Eric placed his palms on her face, holding her gently, wiping a tear off her eyes. Raven felt incredibly sad for both Pam and Tara. And also Lafayette - he had lost so much.

"Pam I'm so sorry," Raven told her.

Pam finally looked at Raven and swallowed her sadness at once. She popped a hand on her hip, resuming her usual sassy stance. "Well look who it is. Took you long enough." And then she glanced back at Eric with a shy smile. Pam seemed almost… Happy to see her? Okay, this was freaking her the fuck out.

They walked around the still open-ceiling complex, trying to find the Governor, but the more they searched the clearer it was that he had managed to escape his own prison. Vampires successfully took over the place. Anyone who didn't flee stayed to torture the scientists and guards of the compound.

"Oh finally," Pam exclaimed and she found a case of Tru Blood sitting in a large office, probably the Governor's judging by the expensive decor. "I'm fucking starving." She opened the case quickly and pulled out a bottle.

Poison, Raven's intuition called.

"I believe Burrell bounced the second he lost control of…" Eric paused, glancing at Raven for a moment. "This place." Raven's eye did not leave the red bottle once. Poison. "I have a hunch of where he might be, and if he isn't there Raven I'll need you to track him-"

Poison. Raven learned to trust her instincts. She paid a high price for ignoring it last time. Raven ran over to Pamela and smacked the bottle right out of her hand, spilling red liquid all over the carpet.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing!?" Pam roared.

"It's poisoned!" Raven explained.

"How the fuck do you know? Eric, are we sure this bitch is really Raven?"

"Intuition." Raven. Who else might she be?

Eric opened another bottle of Tru Blood. He looked worried as he sniffed it. "No…" He muttered, smelling the bottle again. "It can't be…"

"What?!" Pam asked.

"They put Hep V in it," Eric explained.

"Hep what?" She repeated.

"Pam, did you drink any of this while you're here?" He asked.

"No," Pam said much to Eric's relief. "The shrink let me have real blood if I played nice. Everyone else has been drinkin' it though. The fuck is Hep V?"

Eric had a dark look in his eyes. Raven had a real bad feeling about this. "We gotta go." Eric stepped back out in the hallway, which now was empty. The eclipse was sitting perfectly aligned still. Her spell made the moon follow the sun until it set completely.

Goddammit, I really did it, didn't I?

"You don't gotta say it twice. Let's ditch this lame-ass party? If I spend another hour in this shapeless scratchy one piece I'm gonna off myself." Pam said, looking around at the chaos surrounding them.

"Raven?" Eric asked, slipping his arm around her. She knew what was going to happen next. She felt real butterflies in her stomach and her heart burst into joy.

Raven grabbed onto his shoulders, and they flew into the dark afternoon sky.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N.:
> 
> My God this chapter took me so long to write/edit. What am I gonna do with all my time once this story is finished?
> 
> Comment below pls
> 
> xoxoxoxoo


	26. The Maiden

They approached a classic large plantation-style home, one Raven had seen a couple of times on TV. It was the Louisiana's Governor's house. It had an impeccable garden surrounding it, an impressive set of stairs leading to the front wrap-around porch. Dotted around the property were at least three dozen guards scattered throughout, along with armoured cars parked in the U-shaped driveway- almost as if they were waiting for their arrival.

"Shit," Eric muttered, stopping midair, hovering about two hundred feet above the house.

"Shit? What shit?" Pam protested. "You take the front, I take the back, Raven can do… Whatever."

"No." Eric ordered. "This can't look like vampire retaliation. We will have to wait for a better time-"

Raven knew there wouldn't be a better time for her to help. This would be her only shot. "I can do it."

Eric faced her. "Do what?"

Raven asked Eric to circle the house quietly a couple of times quietly before landing. She relaxed one of her arms, letting it loose from Eric's embrace. Raven reached down towards the house and muttered a sleeping spell. She felt sleep dust roll down her palm and fall down her fingertips. Her magic rained all around the house, floating in the sky like fine shimmering sand. Seconds later, guards just dropped to the ground, one by one sound asleep.

Pam, Eric and Raven landed gently right on the front porch.

"And they call me Tinker Bell," Pam chuckled.

"No one has literally ever called you that," Eric joked.

The very next second they heard a commotion from inside the house and the front doors burst open. Multiple guards charged at them but Raven took a step in front of the vampires, extending her arms forward.

"Dea coerceat inimicos meos!"

Her words send all guards and staff flying backwards, back into the house and away from them. They each got pinned against the first surface they hit: walls, floors, stairs, furniture. The spell vibrated all throughout the first floor, affecting all humans inside. A couple of men managed to reach for the guns, but Eric swiftly ripped them off their hands.

"Well done," Eric praised her, entering the house at once. Eric had been invited into the house previously, as he disguised himself to confront the Governor before. Pam, who couldn't enter, agreed to stay outside to make sure no humans would come in.

"Good old southern hospitality is really dead these days," Eric smirked, disarming each guard he passed and tossing their guns away from them. Raven followed him as he quickly made his way to Burrell's office, just off from the main lobby - it was empty.

"Where's the Governor?" Raven asked a lady guard pinned against a bookshelf.

The guard quietly moaned and tears welled up in her eyes, but she didn't say a word. Raven knew they couldn't call for help - the spell made it hard even to breathe. And Raven would know, as Marnie used it against her a lifetime ago.

Then, they heard voices coming from upstairs - a heated argument between Burrell and a woman. Eric found a carefully crafted wooden stake in Burrell's office and he gently picked it up with a smirk, eyeing it carefully, formulating his revenge plot. Raven and Eric followed the noise, her heart was beating fast with anticipation. She looked at the clock: 6:39 PM. The sun was going to set in an hour, breaking the eclipse. But now it was not the time to think about what was going to happen after.

They were here for one man, and one man only: Truman Burrell. The Governor who had launched a war against the vampire kind and Eric Northman was here to end it. Two men in suits were standing in the landing, and before they could even look up from their phones, Raven froze them in place. The vampire and witch walked right past them, following the voices behind a set of grand double doors. As soon as they entered the large master bedroom, Truman and his girlfriend froze in silence.

"Good evening Governor," Eric smiled.

The blonde woman tried to run towards the ensuite bathroom but Raven waved her hand, closing and locking all doors and windows in the room at once, locking everyone inside. The blonde cut it so close she almost ran into the door nose first. The woman was like a little mouse - trapped.

"And of course!" Eric exclaimed. "Sarah fucking Newlin. I knew that research facility was way too fucking elaborate for baldie over here to come up with by himself."

"Truman, do something!" The blonde turned around and shrieked, her voice breaking. She was shaking like a leaf, holding herself against a dresser. She a look in her face of pure fear. Raven's intuition told her it was deserving.

"How is this possible?" Burrell asked him, taking two steps back. "How can an eclipse last this long? They last minutes, not hours! We had the day! The day was supposed to be ours!" He said loudly, with fervour.

Eric nodded at Raven, with his classic smirk. "I told you she wasn't a vampire."

Raven really needed to know what the hell happened before she activated the circles.

"What are you?" Truman cried while staring at Raven.

Raven paused for a second before deciding - to hell with it. "One of the witches you couldn't burn."

"Wi… What?"

"I knew it!" Sarah said with disgust. "I knew it the moment I saw the devil's mark! The pentagram on your stomach!" She shouted as if anyone cared.

"Yes," Raven agreed, smirking. "Praise Satan."

Raven had to hold back the laughter at the woman's reaction. Sarah's face contorted with pure repugnance. Ah, Christians… So easy to scare.

"What do you want Northman?" Truman pleaded, his voice tone changing entirely. "You must want something right? Your bar was shut down, I-I can fix that! Or I can but it from you, I'll give you a huge settlement, pay way more than what it's worth-"

"Men who only have money to give are actually quite poor," Eric stated.

Raven almost gasped. She had told him those words before.

"Please don't kill us!" Sarah begged, tears coming down her face.

"Oh I'm not going to kill you," he laughed. "That would be too easy. No, we are going to play one of your games, Governor." Eric tossed the wooden stake on the floor and it rolled towards the middle of the room. The two humans stopped breathing, fearing the words they knew they were about to hear next.

"Only one of you gets to live," Eric announced.

There was a moment of silence. Truman and Sarah looked at each other for a second, hesitant. Burrell shook his head and looked at Eric again. "We aren't like you, we aren't animals-"

Immediately, the woman launched herself off the dresser, grabbed the weapon from the floor and with one loud sharp scream she stabbed the Governor right in the chest. Red blood stained the blonde's white pantsuit from top to bottom, and dripped all over the Governor's body, pooling on expensive cream coloured carpet. Even Raven was a bit shocked at the woman's ferocity. Burrell dropped dead with a look of terror and disappointment on his face.

"Congratulations," Eric told her, his fangs dropping. "You are now almost worth the air you breathe,"

"No! Please! I did what you asked!" She cried. "I can help you!"

"Help me?! How?" Eric circled around her, lion watching prey. "You started all of this Sarah! You started the Fellowship of the Sun, you created terrorists, took away our rights, tortured hundreds of vampires in a fucked up science camp and poisoned the Tru Blood supply and now you want to help me? You and your gay husband are going to burn in hell and I'm going to make sure of that."

Eric was going to tear this woman's head off and Raven was 100% behind it. They had stopped the beginning of an entire genocide and caught the people responsible for it.

"I have the antidote!" Tears were running down her face. "I have the Hep V antidote! If you let me live I'll help you!"

Eric grabbed the woman and in a movement faster than her eyes could watch, he removed contact lenses off her eyes. Sarah screamed again. "Give me the antidote," Eric said a smoother, lower voice. He was glamouring her.

Sarah's body relaxed under his fingers. "In my purse," She said calmly.

Raven saw a Chanel bag sitting on the large king-sized bed, and she quickly went through it. She found a pharmaceutical vial with a green liquid in it. Raven examined the small bottle in her hand. It reminded her of Lilith's blood. Flashes of that night haunted her still. Raven held it up, showing it to Eric and the human.

"Is this it?" He questioned her.

"Yes," she nodded, so calm she could float.

"Good. Now you are going to leak all the footage you have from that freak circus, especially all the perverse shit you and Burrell did. You are going to confess to all the crimes against vampires you committed, including the money fraud to get it all done in the first place. Then you are going to confess to his murder. You had a fight, and you killed him. Can you do that?"

"Yes," she said softly.

"And know this Sarah," he pulled her closer. "If our paths ever cross again, I will keep you in my basement and feed off you every single day for the rest of your miserable human life, got it?"

"Yes," she repeated.

Without another word, Eric let the petite blonde go. She ran away crying, desperate to leave, tugging on the locked door.

"Ah, and Sarah?" Eric called. "One more thing. Invite the beautiful blonde vampire who's standing out front inside."

Sarah nodded, with black mascara running down her cheeks, and blood dripping off her clothes - she was a mess. Eric nodded to Raven to let her go, and she unlocked the door. Sarah opened the door and disappeared down the hallway, her cries faded into the distance. Raven was surprised by his decision.

"You're not going to kill her?"

"There are worse things than death."

Raven now knew this to be true. Death would be too easy. Sarah Newlin would end up taking all the responsibility for the illegal research facility, and the murder of the Governor. Sarah was about to spend a very long time in jail.

Eric and Raven found themselves alone. Eric kissed her gently on the forehead, his palm embracing the back of her neck, under her hair. She leaned into it, taking a deep breath. It's done. He's safe. She finally felt the wave of exhaustion hit her.

As if he read her mind, Eric said with a small smile. "I'll draw you a bath. You look terrible."

Raven caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. She felt about as bad as she looked. Raven was filthy, with dried up blood covering half her body. Her hair was also matted into a rats nest. Her body ached everywhere, from sore muscles to stiff joints. And she was so freaking exhausted. He entered the bathroom behind her, and she could hear the water running. Raven unzipped her grey prison jumpsuit and entered the Governor's walk-in closet to look for something clean for both of them to wear. Raven found a black midi wrap dress for herself, but Burrell was only 5'8 max, so finding something that fit the Viking giant would be impossible. She had to use magic to extend the hem on a pair of black slacks and enlarge a charcoal V neck tee. But the material felt expensive, so hopefully, Eric would be okay with it.

When she stepped back in the bathroom, Eric was already in the tub, the lower half of his body sadly hidden by bubbles. He looked clean, his hair was wet and finger-combed back, making him look so dangerously hot. He stretched his arms over the edges of the tub, his defined pale defined chest looked so inviting. The lights in the bathroom were off, but moonlight shined brightly through the large window facing the garden. Raven stepped in carefully, and sat between his legs, her body instantly relaxed in the warm water. She rested her back on his torso and placed her head on his right shoulder. His hands ran all over her skin, gently washing the blood off her body with the lusciously bubbly bathwater. Now, this is a dream I could live forever in, she thought.

They sat in the tub together in silence for a while, watching the night be still through the window. The back garden had an array of carefully planted flowers and bushes surrounding gazebos. There were three mature apple trees with beautiful white blossoms that gently rained down its petals with the breeze, reminding her of snow. Raven knew apple trees didn't blossom in December. The time to dream was over. Raven had to know what happened.

"How long was I gone?" She asked him.

"Too long," he answered, avoiding the question.

"Eric," she pressed.

He took several moments to answer, and each second it passed she grew more and more scared of his answer. "Seven months, sixteen days, fourteen hours and twenty-one minutes. Give or take."

She felt a full-body chill. He counted?

Raven wished she felt relief - it was months, not years. But she couldn't rest just yet. "What happened? Why did my father…"

Eric's hands now washed the top of her left arm, making the blood dye the bath pink. His head lowered and he put a small kiss on her shoulder. She could tell he was carefully choosing his words before he said anything which made her even more scared to know the truth. Last time Eric stopped to measure his words, she had to go to war.

"Your father created you to be Lilith's vessel,"

She couldn't help but laugh. "What? You can't be serious."

"At cold Moon, the blood of her covenant will be spilled, an immortal shall take her vessel to the light and she will rise again."

Raven's mind stopped. Nothing about this made any sense. "Wait, why does that sound familiar?"

"It's in one of your books. It's a prophecy."

Pieces were falling into place, but not in places she expected. Out of all the wild theories Raven formulated while in the woods, this wasn't even close. Elijah had done WHAT?! Blood of the covenant, high moon, vessels, the ringing, the forest… Take her to the light.

Like a row of falling dominos, she was starting to connect the dots.

Holy fucking shit. How does someone even create a body strong enough to hold a God?! There was no fucking way it was allowed. The creation of new creatures was strictly forbidden. But her father was a Bishop - he could not be prosecuted. Did he become a Bishop just so he could do this?

It had all been meticulously orchestrated.

"After you died that night," he continued, pulling some of her hair back, wetting it carefully.

"I died?"

"Yes, you did," he confirmed. "A thousand years on this earth, and losing you was one of the worst things I've ever gone through…" Eric went quiet for a really long time. Raven remembered everything going dark while he held her close. She remembered he looked absolutely shattered. Her heart ached for him. "Right after you died, Lilith woke up in your body."

Raven suddenly felt nauseous. Lilith walked around in her body. Somebody else was in her body. Breathing with it. Speaking with her mouth, touching with her fingers. Crawling inside her skin. Raven felt violated. She suddenly felt 10 times dirtier than before. And it was the kind of dirty that water wasn't going to wash off.

All her life, Elijah insisted Raven was destined for greatness, that she was going to lead the witch kind someday, preaching Raven was Lilith's light… He made her for this - this was her purpose. He never really wanted Raven to study witchcraft among the greatest witches and wizards. He never actually cared for Raven to enter politics, never bothered if she was going to be Bishop. It was all a setup to put Lilith in power. If Raven held a high enough rank when she became God, then Lilith could somehow lead them. But only as Lilith, not as herself. Raven was in fact, just not good enough. It was beyond high parental expectations. This was the end goal all her life. Raven was never created to be his daughter.

"I don't know everything she's done, but I do know she created thousands of witches and warlocks by killing human babies. She killed one, to transform another," Raven felt a shiver down her spine. Oh God- "And then she was going to create a new species of vampire to wipe us out, but Nora stopped her. She found a way to put Lilith in that prison where they chained you with iron. Eventually, Burrell got all of us. Nora, Pam, Tara-"

"A new kind of vampire?"

"Turns out, Lilith is not very fond of vampires," he told her. "Ironic, isn't it?"

Raven had so many more questions she didn't even know where to start. She wondered what it was like for Eric to have to deal with Lilith while looking at her. The mere minutes she had to witness Eric being under necromancy control was a nightmare she couldn't bear. "If I woke up as Lilith in the Authority, why didn't you kill me?"

"I tried. I stabbed you right in the heart. You didn't even bleed-"

Raven looked down at her own chest - no scar. "And she didn't kill you?"

"No. Because of this," his fingers traced just below her left collarbone.

She looked over and saw the ever so faint X mark she scratched herself. The vow. Raven's declaration of love for Eric forbade Lilith from harming him. Raven couldn't help but smile. Book of Shadows, rule four: all acts of love are sacred. All acts of love are protected - as love itself is magic. She always thought rule four was more of a kumbaya fluff piece, she never thought magic could behave like that. But then again, she learned a hell lot about magic in the past couple hours.

"I'm glad Nora stopped her. I'd like to thank her."

"Me too," he agreed. "But she's dead."

Raven gasped and turned around in the tub, facing Eric. His gaze went out of the window, avoiding hers instantly. She held his face gently, making him face her. She saw the hurt in his eyes and her heart broke into a million pieces. She knew the pain of losing a sister all too well. Her mouth opened for a second, but no words came out. There was nothing she could ever say to make it better.

"I know," he whispered, pressing his forehead against her. "But I got you back," his arms held her shoulders, pulling her closer. Raven laid down again, her sides cuddling his torso, her cheek resting right on his silent heart. "After I lost you… I couldn't forgive myself for killing you. I-" words could no longer leave him. Raven had never seen him vulnerable like this.

"Eric, you didn't kill me." Raven insisted. "Elijah did. He made me to die-"

"He told me the same thing," Eric said, looking down to her.

Raven's heart skipped a beat. She quietly sat up again, to face him. Their eyes locked. Without him even saying anything, she knew her father was dead. Eric had killed him. All the fights and arguments Raven was ready to have with him, she would never get a chance to. Maybe it was better this way. Maybe she could finally rest. Raven was free of him. She could finally just be herself. No expectations, no prophecies, no politics. Eric Northman was the key to yet another prison Elijah built for her.

Raven shifted around, this time lying her back on the opposite side of the tub, facing his whole body. She watched his pale skin reflect the moonlight. It was the true night again. The eclipse had broken. The moon went back to where it was supposed to be - high in the sky, peeking behind the garden trees. After a long time, Raven broke the silence. "After I drank the blood, I woke up in the woods like I usually do. The first thing I did was to wait for you. I wanted to come back so much I tried to wake up, to escape, I even tried burning down the whole fucking thing down. And I only found my way out because I seeked you. I tried to fly," she couldn't help but smile at the absurdity of what she was saying. "I wanted to pretend I was flying with you. That's how I discovered the path in the woods was a secret magic key. I only found my way back, because I love you."

"What if you don't?" He asked in a cold voice.

"Excuse me?"

After all they've been through, how the hell can he ask her that?

"What if what you feel for me is just part of the prophecy? I'm the immortal who was always meant to hurt you." His whole body stiffened up.

"Eric, never say that to me again." Raven warned him. "The path only appeared in my dreams after I gave your memories back. I think Agatha knew about this prophecy, and she hid the key in a way it would only reveal itself when I was meant to find it. You may have been the immortal in the prophecy, but you were also the reason why I came back."

Eric sunk lower in the tub, slightly relaxing. Something told her she released a burden he had been holding onto for a very long time.

"I just don't understand why Agatha couldn't just tell me all of this-"

"Lilith had your memories," Eric told her simply.

Raven thought about asking how he knew that, but she feared the topic brought the vampire more pain than he led on. If Lilith knew how Raven felt about him, she certainly would have used it against him. If Lilith had access to the fourteenth magic circle - the one Agatha hid - maybe Lilith could have used it and it would amplify her destruction tenfold.

A realization hit her like a punch to the gut. The key. Her sisters - their silence at the pyre, eyes closed, hand in hand forming a circle. A circle. The prophecy didn't work then because they didn't let themselves be sacrificed for it. The blood of the covenant wasn't spilled for Lilith. They chose to die for Raven. That is how Agatha hid the key in her dreams. Agatha must have known Lilith would have access to Raven's memories. If Lilith knew Raven's soul was still alive and could somehow to get out, Lilith could have also easily banished Raven forever.

Agatha, Catherine, Harriet, Violet and Mabel died to hide Raven in her own dreams with the key to get out. No blood of the covenant was spilled that night. It took Jesus dying for it to count.

"I just can't believe my father would go this far… How many people have died for this? And for what?"

"For more witches." Eric reminded her. "Human babies have been mysteriously dying by the thousands and no one knew why. Elijah wanted the end of the Vampire Era. And perhaps the beginning of the Wizard one."

Another cold shiver down Raven's spine. She couldn't help but feel responsible for it. It may have been Lilith's doing, but it was her hands who made the dark sacrifice. And there was nothing she could do to justify the loss of the innocent lives. All she could do was try to make sure they weren't in vain.

* * *

After their bath, they got dressed. They found Pam downstairs, sitting in Burrell's office going through his computer. Apparently someone had 1.2 million dollars in offshore accounts.

"And by had, I do mean had. I rerouted the money to my Cayman Islands account. They'll never find it." She told Eric.

"Your Cayman Islands account?" Eric asked with a small smile, not being able to hide how pleased he was with his progeny's doing.

"I'm calling it a settlement for my emotional distress."

The duo spent the next little while glamouring all guards to forget what really happened, and planted new memories instead. Sarah and Burrell had a fight, and she ran away crying. By the time they went to check on him, he was dead, stabbed in the heart. Pam also deleted all security footage using Sarah Newlin's code. Pam put on some of Sarah's clothes too: black skinny jeans, Christian Louboutin pumps and a Fendi black blouse - by far the most conservative Raven had ever seen her. They then burned their prison suits in the fireplace. No one would ever know that they were here.

"Where to next? It better be Paris. I'm done with this place for good." Pam complained as they walked down the steps out of the Governor's house. The moon sat lonely up, higher in the sky - Witching hour was fast approaching.

"I need to speak with my coven," Raven declared. "So I have to go home."

"No, you don't-" Pam declared, eyeing her sourly.

"I wasn't asking," Raven told her. Who the fuck did she think she was? Raven had been through enough. She just wanted to go home.

"No bitch, your home is gone."

Raven stopped dead in her tracks and her heart went ice cold. Eric told her Raven had died. If she did… So did her house. And so did Lucifer. Raven's chest felt tighten, she had to steady herself on the railing as she looked away, hiding the tears welling up in her eyes. Losing her house and her familiar hurt just as much as losing a coven member. It was her childhood family home. It was all she had left of her sisters. It was her life's work. It was her home.

"I'll take you to Lafayette's," Eric told her. "Pam, go get our stuff from Ginger's. Then head to Fangtasia with some dinner."

With just a nod, Pam flew away. Eric expected Raven to yell at him for not telling her about her home. But time was running out, and Raven knew she had no time to grieve anymore. She had to see her coven.

They flew to Bon Temps. While the air hushed through her ears, Raven tried to numb her heart. Her home was destroyed. She felt so incredibly small. Every so often she looked up at Eric's face, watched his blue eyes glimmer while focusing on the horizon. She felt a bit better. Seconds after they landed, Raven noticed a brand new red corvette in the driveway. She remembered she had left Lafayette and Holly all the money in her vault in case she died in the Authority. I guess he put it to good use. Raven knocked on Lafayette's door, so anxious she could throw up. Something was turning around in her stomach, but she had to push away any questions of what Lilith may have eaten. She saw a pair of long eyelashes peak through the living room curtains and the loud pop music that played inside stopped.

Raven spent so much time blaming everything that had happened in the past on other people: her father, Eric, Marnie, Antonia, Damien, Lilith. So much time wishing things were different, so much time wondering what other lifetimes could look like if only those people didn't entirely fuck up her life. She now realized how naive it was for her to think that way. Raven was in charge of her life - prophecy or not. Raven was solely responsible for being here, for choosing this coven, for teaching them magic, for attacking the Authority, for killing people and for letting them live too. For breaking the rules. For falling in love.

It was time for the consequences.

The door opened and Lafayette stood by the doorway staring at her as if she were a ghost. Maybe at this point she was. There was a long pause. Neither knew what to say. Everything that came to her mind didn't sound like it was enough. Jesus was dead. Raven had a duty to protect her coven, and she failed. But no words were needed - Lafayette took a step and hugged Raven, tightly. She embraced him back, biting back tears.

"I am so-" she whispered.

"Baby girl, I know." He shushed. He pulled back, eyeing her with his beautiful brown eyes. "He don't blame you either."

"You've talked to him?"

"Yeah. I let him visit sometimes."

"Good." She smiled. Some of the heavyweight lifted off her shoulders. He was okay. They were okay. "How's Holly?"

"She's good. She can't do magic no more though, not like she used to."

"Yeah, I figured," Lafayette gave her a questioning look. "Holly isn't magical like you and Jesus. She's a full human. Holly could only do magic as long as she was bonded to me, and since I died…"

"You knew she didn't have magic this entire time? Why did you let her join?"

"Because the three of you were there for me, Lafayette. Without even knowing me, you three cared for me and it was all I could ask from a coven."

Lafayette gave her a sad smile which quickly faded once he noticed Eric Nortman standing in his front yard, fifteen feet away. "I take it he gots you back."

"Kind of," Raven said shily.

"Can he get you away before the witch police comes for your ass?" Raven felt a ripple of fear run through her body. Lafayette knew. Of course, he wasn't stupid.

"Witch police?" Eric repeated.

This part was going to be hard. Raven swallowed hard. Eric walked up to the porch in a flash. "When I made the eclipse I broke one the main Shadow Book rules. I interfered with the world's natural rhythm by moving the moon and freezing in an eclipse. Pretty sure humans have noticed it too, so I put our kind's entire existence at risk."

Eric stood an inch away from here, his body towering over her. His eyes never looked at her with such intensity before. He was angry at her. "Why didn't you tell me? Why didn't you say anything?! Why the fuck did you let us waste all that time killing the Governor?!"

"Yous killed the Governor?" Lafayette interrupted.

"No more running away," Raven reminded him.

Raven took a good look at Eric. If she had to live her life all over again, she would not have changed a damn thing. Eric held her face with both hands, he could feel her slip away already. She wasn't going to die because a mad King wanted revenge. She wasn't going to die to fulfill some prophecy. Raven Blackwood was going to die to save someone she loved. She was loved. She couldn't ask for anything else.

"Why?" Eric asked. "Why do it if it was forbidden?"

"I took a vow. And Eric, I'd take it a thousand times again if I had to."

A flash of red light burst on the front yard, near to where Eric was standing moments ago. Thirteen dark hooded and masked figures stood in a circle facing them. Her time was up.

The man standing the furthest from them spoke after a moment in a deep raspy voice. "Raven Blackwood, you've been summoned by the Circle of Mages. Your trial is about to start."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N.:
> 
> What Spicehoney giveth, Spicehoney taketh away.
> 
> 2 chapters to go folks!
> 
> See you next week xoxo


	27. The Maker

"Go inside Lafayette," Raven warned him, feeling a pit in her throat. "And please, don't watch." She added, placing a soft kiss on his forehead.

Lafayette paused, giving her a long goodbye with his large brown eyes, holding back tears. He had told her goodbye many times now. There was so much more she wanted to say, but there was no time. Raven wanted to thank him for his kindness, for his bravery and for his unwavering friendship. All she could hope is that a part of her lived on with him somehow.

"I'll be alright, baby girl. I'll see yous on the flip side." He told her, almost as if he could read her mind. Then he entered the house, disappearing behind the closed door.

Raven then turned to Eric and gave him a slight nod to the vampire who stood ever so tall right next to her. His body carried an unexplainable authoritative air around him. Just the way he stood there, the way he towered next to her. Eric Northman was pure, raw, dominant power. But no power in the world could stop what was about to happen.

Raven's heart broke into a million pieces again. Despite seeing him one more time, kissing him, flying, and being in his arms which is all she ever begged the Gods for, she couldn't help but wish she had more. Letting go of Eric was like cutting out her own heart, but she had to do it.

"In another lifetime," she told him, gently touching him on the chest.

His hand grasped hers, holding it strongly, not letting her go. Eric's eyes just gazed deep into hers, brows frowning in anger. She knew Eric was upset and angry at her for hiding the inevitable trial from him. But Raven knew this way was for the best. She just couldn't simply let him die like that. And now that she knew the truth, that too many people died for her or because of her, it was time to end it all. Raven had to be the one to make the sacrifice now. And it was an unfair sacrifice. It was unfair Eric and Raven had so little time together. It was unfair that so much got in their way, that they couldn't truly enjoy being together for longer than some mere moments. But at least they had those moments. And as Raven said goodbye to those intense grey-blue eyes, she realized they were worth sacrificing her life for.

Loving him was her greatest magic. She hoped she would live on him too.

Knowing if she held on any longer she would try something stupid, Raven let his hand go. She pulled her hand away, one last time, forever. If she tried to run now, the Mages would kill them both.

Raven walked down the porch steps and entered the circle, passing the tall men with the hooded figures. Their hoods were long, covering their entire body like a dark cape. Their faces were covered by glimmering dark brass masks that floated just above their skin. The masks were enchanted, so the Mages could see the defendant but not the other way around. There was a reason for it, but Raven couldn't remember it. She had read all about the wizard judiciary system years ago, but the books were insufferable boring. The Circle of Mages trial procedures were written in old languages, texts so complicated they were almost riddles, and the chapters were so convoluted and out of order, it was almost impossible for anyone to study enough to challenge it or change it. It was almost as if it were deliberately done that way, to keep the power in the hands of the few men around her.

Raven knew the hooded men were Bishops - why all the secrecy she had no idea. The man in front of her, the only one wearing a red hood was the Pope himself - jury and executioner. Highest power in all land. She wondered if her father were alive if he would let her die in her trial, or would he kneel beside her and confess to his crimes. Elijah let her die alone once, he probably would do it again. Raven kneeled at the center of the circle, as custom. She had to bite back a smile on the irony of it all - it had all started with a witch trial, and it was going to end with one.

A ring of pale and cold blue fire lit all around her, between Raven and the Mages. It was the circle of truth - Raven could no longer lie. She had to measure her words carefully.

"How do you plead, child?" The Pope asked, looking down on her from behind his mask.

Raven sighed. This system is bullshit. Bishops and Popes couldn't be charged with crimes because they would constantly backstab each other in order to seek more power, more influence and control over more land. There used to be hundreds of districts, now the whole world was divided into only 12. Out of all witches and wizards, these were the biggest criminals that existed. And somehow, they got to judge everyone else.

"To what charges, your Honor?"

She could see by the turning of heads, the Bishops didn't expect a pushback. She was going to die anyway, so fuck it why not? Raven had nothing else to lose.

"To what-" a Bishop to her right scoffed. "To what charges?! You caused an 8 hour long eclipsed that encaptivated all humanity! It is in every news cycle, from Japan to America, to everything in between! You changed the course of the moon, you effectively changed all the tidal cycles of all the oceans forever-"

Yeah, okay, that was bad.

"And," another Bishop spoke. Uh oh. "There is leaked footage of you performing said forbidden magic in a vampire research facility thus ultimately exposing magic and witchcraft to the entire world."

And it got worse. But at least it meant Sarah Newlin did as she was glamoured to do - she leaked the footage of the facility, of humans torturing vampires. It reminded her of why she was doing this in the first place. Damage control.

"You forgot one," she heard Eric's voice echo from behind her.

She turned her head and was caught by surprise by seeing Eric Northman enter the circle and stand behind her, within the circle of blue flames. Her heart almost jumped out of her mouth. What the actual FUCK was he doing? Eric could no longer lie, and he didn't even know it. If her father's death was brought up, it would be the end of him.

"I'm sorry, who are you?" A Bishop asked in a tone of detachment.

"Eric Northman."

"And to order do you belong to, Mr. Northman?"

"The vampire one." He smirked, raising his chin higher.

All the Bishops stood a little taller. Oh fuck. Oh fuck.

"A vampire?" Another Bishop screeched. "In official wizard proceedings?!"

"I have never seen such a thing in my life!"

"SILENCE!" The Pope demanded. He seemed unphased by Eric's nature. "Eric Northman, are you insinuating the Circle of Mages failed to uncover a magic crime?"

"Yes," he added. "She was possessed."

Raven then understood where Eric was going with this. He was going to expose Lilith and her Father, the prophecy, and all the deaths… And the key. They cannot under any circumstance not know about the key! Agatha published book after book on all matters of conjuration and magic circle craft but she never revealed this circle formation for a reason. The fourteenth circle Agatha chose to hide away. And Raven was starting to understand why: no one, especially no one in this circle should have it.

"I don't suppose you are familiar with our laws, Mr. Northman - witches are still held responsible for any laws or rules they break whilst under possession. Hence why we brand every witch and warlock at a young age against demonic or ghostly possession. You do bear the rune, don't you Miss Blackwood?"

"Yes, your Excellence," she agreed.

"Then the court dismisses the vampire's testament-"

"She wasn't possessed by a demon or a ghost." Eric interrupted.

Raven looked at him, fearing the words he was about to say next. There would be no coming back. Why is he doing this? Why can't he just let me go? He is going to get himself killed. Raven remembered watching Eric kneel in front of Roman. Eric also had to answer for crimes against his own government.

There are worse things than death.

"Vampire, do you take joy in delaying our proceedings? You talk foolish nonsense."

"I am a vessel," Raven confessed. "Created by my mother and father - the former Bishop of the North Eastern District of the Church of Night." The circle was silent. "Elijah Blackwood sacrificed his own coven and my mother in order to create a vessel for Lilith, so she could return to Earth."

"Are you insinuating you were created as vessel for a God? That would make you an illegal creature." Another Bishop noted.

Raven thought it interesting how the Bishop's tone was pointed at her and not at her father. This is why no one survives a Circle of Mages trial. Because it's rigged.

"Yes, it would."

"Which means this court failed to uncover a magic crime, which preceded all crimes you present against the defendant," Eric explained.

Raven wanted to let out a small smile. He was unbelievable. It wasn't at all how witch law or this court operated, but Raven admired Eric for trying to save her, despite everything.

"Bishops cannot be accused of crimes, Eric," Raven told him, leaning towards him. "It's probably why my father became a Bishop in the first place. So he could carry on the prophecy."

"What prophecy?" A very familiar voice asked. It came from none other than Alexander Randall, who stood to the left of the Pope.

"In the cold Moon, when the blood of the covenant is spilled, an immortal shall take her to the light. It's in the Book of Prophecies." Eric told the Mages.

"It appears my father took the prophecy as a guide. He forced each part to happen, in that order,"

The circle of men around her burst into angry protesting voices. She couldn't tell if they were yelling at her, or at each other, or both. Raven and Eric locked eyes amidst the chaos. He didn't want to lose her again. She didn't want to lose him either, but she had to. Actions had consequences. As they kneeled side by side inside the circle, Raven felt an odd sense of peacefulness. For better or worse, Eric was going to be next to her until the very end.

"Order!" The Pope demanded. "ORDER IN MY COURT!"

The men hushed at once. Alexander Randall spoke again. "Explain to me how Elijah forced a prophecy to happen?"

Raven swallowed the pit in her throat. "The Vampire Authority held the sacred blood of Lilith, as you know Mr. Randall," The men all around her shot confused looks at the Bishop. Oh yes, you aren't getting off scot-free. If I'm going down, you are going down with me. "At the last Cold Moon, my father encouraged me and my coven to go to war for the heinous crimes committed by the Vampire Authority. Elijah used necromancy to force Eric Northman to feed her blood to me. I died then was reborn as Lilith."

She was expecting another burst of questions, but all she met was more silence. Ugly silence. Disdain. Anger.

"You knew about Lilith's blood, Randall?" A Bishop asked.

"Sounds to me Miss Blackwood just admitted to another crime," Randall reflected. "She got involved in a human war, a blatant defiance of the Decree of 1913-"

That slimy motherfucker.

Eric broke the moment, turning the conversation back to where he wanted to. "Lilith took upon herself to create more witches."

Boom.

"I'm sorry, what did you say?" The Pope asked.

"Lilith killed thousands of human infants in the past months, and for each soul taken, Lilith has turned a human child into a witch or wizard. She told me so herself."

"He lies!" A voice called behind them.

"They can't lie! They stand within the circle!"

More arguments ensued until the Pope spoke again. "Are you telling me Lilith has created a full-blooded witch or wizard made for every human baby who mysteriously died since the last cold moon?"

"That is exactly what I'm saying. A soul sacrificed for each. There are now thousands more of you-"

"That is not thousands of witches, Mr. Northman, that is tens of thousands-"

Raven felt a surge of courage through her body. She felt responsible not only for the thousands of lost children but for all of Lilith's creations too. All that magic has been unleashed in the world. Raven had to make sure they'd be protected.

"Wel... Where are they? What happened to all of Her creations?"

"They are asleep," Randall said, before she had a chance too. "In their human cribs. Being watched by their human parents. In their human homes."

Randall understood.

The weight of Lilith's actions really sunk in. Raven couldn't let it all be in vain. All or nothing. "Humans will eventually stop caring about the eclipse." She told them. "Eventually they will start believing the video was fake. Holywood made it, or whatever. Humans are easily influenced by crazy conspiracy theories, by the internet, by misinformation. The event will fade away in time, buried deep and forgotten sooner than you'd think. It will be nothing but a little footnote on history books in a generation or two."

"But if you stay hidden in the shadows," Raven warned. "If you just kill me for my crimes and pretend none of this ever happened… When these babies grow into children…Their magic will show. How well do you think their human parents will react then? They'll be sending their kids away to be fixed, to be healed or studied. They will be locked away or will grow alone, thinking they are crazy, that there's something wrong with them. Don't let them! Have a Great Revelation now. Offer them guidance, mentorship and safe haven. So many of us died because of what Elijah Blackwood and Marion Payne and I, under Lilith, did. Don't let any more blood be shed over this."

"Are you insane?" A Bishop behind her exclaimed. "You want us to expose ourselves?"

"Yes!" She cried out. "Stop living in fear! Stop running and hiding! You all talk about strength in numbers and force a coven upon all of us. Well, now you have your numbers! Stop preaching about honour, and duty, and the rules, and pretending you are one of us when clearly it's all lies. All of you, not Lilith, not Satan, not Asmodeus, not Hecate, but you and the Bishops and Popes before you, created these rules for us that you don't even follow yourself! You talk about being leaders but disappear or look away when your own witches need you most. You all have put self-preservation of our kind above everything else, but it is only us at the bottom who pay the price."

Another heavy silence. She could tell they were pissed.

Alexander then spoke out. "If you were meant to be Lilith, how come you are you again? The Goddess wouldn't have deserted us in a time like this,"

The key. The circle of Mages didn't care for justice. You can't care for justice if you are immune to it yourself. She could only hope one of them could carry the path forward. She could only hope someone would be brave enough to start a legacy worth having. Giving them the most powerful magic circle in existence would not push them forward. It would just add to the cycle of abuse of power that had always existed. And she couldn't lie. So she did the only thing left to do.

"I am guilty of all charges, your Honor." Raven declared.

"No-" Eric gasped.

"Your Honor," Randall interrupted. "I'd like to know how an uneducated witch from a barely magic coven managed to exorcise a God from her own body." Randall insisted. "Who helped you?! How?"

Raven bit her tongue. My family.

"I'm afraid I don't care for her answer." The Pope sighed. "This whole story is a nightmare, and I don't care for it one bit. Miss Blackwood," the Pope faced her again stepping inside the circle. "For breaking rule 2 of the Witch Rule book, this world's Natural Laws, for being an unauthorized creature, for exposing magic to the human world, and for creating unauthorized bloodlines under possession and for breaking the Human War Interference Decree of 1914 B.C., I hereby sentence you to be taken apart, with no chance of life."

* * *

There was nothing he could have done. The second Raven got sentenced, a Wizard pulled Eric out of the circle with magic, pinning him against a post on Lafayette's front porch with such force the wood almost snapped in two. Eric pushed against the invisible hand holding him back, slowly making his way forward. He felt a heavy warm hand tug on his shoulder. It was Lafayette.

"Let her go, Northman." He told him, tears in his eyes.

Easy for you to say.

The men gathered in a smaller circle, blocking his view of her. He heard a slashing noise and a frail wince. The Bishop chanted words in Latin. They were taking her magic away. They were taking his witch apart. Another bright flash of red light illuminated the clearing of Lafayette's front yard before disappearing again. The magic wall let Eric go, his feet landed awkwardly on the steps, and he ran towards Raven's small body. She laid sideways on the dirt, alone and forgotten. His hand reached for her shoulder - dead cold - and turned her. There were blood runes marked on her chest and a wound on her heart. She was already passed out, no heartbeat to be heard of. She was gone. Real gone this time.

Eric had lost Raven before, and every time hurt just as much as the last. But this one felt different. Raven chose this. Raven sacrificed herself to him, and Pam, and vampires. Raven was always marked for death, but this time she went out on her own terms. Eric could finally let her go. He could finally bury her, and imagine her resting somewhere nice, with her coven. She deserved so much more than life in this world had given her. Maybe elsewhere she could be everything she wanted to, with everyone she loved.

"Turn her," Lafayette told him, kneeling beside them.

"What?" Eric asked, looking up at him, holding Raven gently.

"Turn her," he repeated.

Eric was still not quite sure he heard Lafayette correctly and that he had asked him to do what Eric thought he was asking him to do. Turn Raven into a vampire? Could he even do such a thing? He remembered the gut-wrenching feeling of unburying Willa. The failed progeny. Had Lilith cursed him forever? Would he never make another progeny again?

"I don't think I can," he muttered. "It didn't work last time. Lilith-"

"It will work." Lafayette's voice was warm and reassuring which only added to Eric's confusion. Lafayette had every reason to hate vampires, especially Eric. Why would he want Eric to turn his friend into one? He knew how much Tara hated him for it, why do it again?

"What makes you so sure?"

"Her sister was a medium, like me," he explained, caressing Raven's black hair. "She predicted Raven was gonna die three times. And Raven never even believed it because no one has ever died three times, not even vampires. Well, she already died twice, so..."

Eric remembered something he told Pam.

How many more times are you willing to lose her?

As many as it takes.

Eric held her in his arms for another moment, pondering his choice. Raven would be his forever. A bond no one could ever break. This is what he wanted for so long, and now that it was here why was he so… Hesitant? Would she hate it? She took a vow to be his, took a vow to love him and protect him. Would this be betraying her? No. This would be a chance for him to give her the real world Raven Blackwood deserved.

"She's a witch no more, Northman," Lafayette added. "And if there's one thing I know… Raven did not want to be human. Not even in death."

Lafayette was right. She was too good to just be human. If there was one last thing he could do for her, it would be this. He remembered the doctor shooting Lilith in the neck with Hep V. He wasn't sure exactly how the disease worked, and he knew there would be a good chance that he would die from it, just like Nora. However, he did have the antidote despite not knowing if it even worked. But he was willing to die for Raven, just like he always has.

He bit down her beautiful neck, tasting her blood. It was just as pure as he remembered. Rich, bold, intoxicating. Witch or not, Raven tasted exquisite. Eric had to force himself to stop, licking his lips as they parted from her skin. He bit his palm and let his blood drip in her mouth.

If this worked, Raven would wake up to be his forever. If it worked, Raven would be a part of him, and he would be a part of her. She would be his progeny. She would be his home. He would gladly avenge her death a thousand times over if she wanted. They could hunt down Bishop after Bishop and destroy the Mages as they destroyed the Authority. Or they could spend eternity watching the moon in each other's arms.

He cradled her cold body one more time, watching the moonlight highlight her sparkling white skin. Since they've met, she lost everything.

Raven gave up her entire world for him, but Eric was determined to give her a whole new one.

* * *

Eric woke up in the Bon Temps graveyard the next night, and without missing a second he started to dig Raven out from beside him. He pulled her out from the dirt then laid her across his lap gently. He brushed the dirt off her shoulders and hair. Eric marvelled at her for a second under the bright moonlight. She looked exactly the same. Did it work? Please let me have this, Lilith. Please let me. Eric knew she would wake up confused and scared, hungry, even angry. Angry for turning into something she did not perhaps want. Would she hate herself like Tara or Bill did?

Suddenly and without warning, Raven woke up in a jolt and he held her tight. He never felt relief release from his soul like this. It worked. She loudly coughed up dirt and gasped desperately for air, her gaze bounced off her surroundings, trying to recognize where she was. She pushed herself off him, with a strength he never felt come from her before. She was a vampire alright. He confined her body, locking her on his lap.

"Raven!" He called, and she immediately stopped and looked at him.

Her body was still tense, in fight or flight mode, but she had stopped fighting his grasp.

"Listen to me," he told her. "I am your Maker. I've made you my progeny. You are a vampire now," her eyes grew wide and her brows frowned closer. He could see the thoughts rushing through her mind. Fear. Grief. Hunger. Confusion. Anger. Life as she knew it was over. But that was the point.

"I know, but listen to me," he commanded.

His fingers pushed some of her hair off her face gently and he held her closer. There was no space between them. There would never be again. He knew this wasn't going to get any easier. He never turned anyone who didn't ask to be turned. He knew this life wasn't for everyone. For him, it was a blessing. But for others… It was the cruellest of curses. He just hoped she loved him enough.

"If you don't want this, I will give you the true death. It will be quick and painless." She didn't move, so he continued. "If you don't want to be mine, I will release you right now. I know this isn't the life you might have imagined for yourself. But I do know you Raven Blackwood, and I know you want a family - you deserve one. You are meant to be loved. So let me give you a family. Let me give you everything. Let me love you, Raven Blackwood, in this lifetime."

She didn't move for a minute. The world came to a complete standstill. Earth might have stopped spinning - he had seen it could happen. Eric looked at her blue sapphire eyes, filled with the same curiosity and wonder as the eyes of the young woman who answered a knock to her door, several lifetimes ago. Raven Blackwood had lost everything. Truly everything - her coven, her parents, her sisters, friends, her home, her familiars, her magic. And all he could promise her was to be her Maker. Would she accept it?

And then the most wonderful thing happened. She gave him something Eric longed for the most in this world.

Raven gave him the most beautifully warm smile.

THE END

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N.
> 
> First and foremost, thank you so much for reading my story. I put so much care, thought and time into building this whole universe I am always astounded there are people (like yourself) who took the time to read it and ESPECIALLY if you took time to comment on it. It means so much to me.
> 
> "But it's going to end here?!" You ask. No, there will be an epilogue coming next week which is the official final piece of this story. But I just wanted to recognize that the story ends when Raven's deepest wish comes true: she wanted a family, and she longed to be loved - and she found both in Eric.
> 
> Writing endings is very hard (Black Moon Lilith was only supposed to be 12 chapters long lmao), and just as hard is to read endings. I hope you love Raven just as much as I do.
> 
> One last time, I will see you next week.


	28. Epilogue

"Alright, don't move," Pam ordered, as she put more bobby pins in Raven's hair.

Her sister's fingers were always so gentle, but her mean demeanour made Raven stiff as a statue, sitting like a life-sized doll in front of the large luxurious hotel vanity. Pam was two hours into Raven's 'makeover' for the evening, and she was growing impatient but knew better than to disturb the process. It wouldn't be out of character for Pam to intentionally burn the back of her neck with the hot curling iron if Raven tried to rush her. Raven barely breathed while sitting on the fine leather stool, watching Pam meticulously curl her hair and fluff it just right before pinning it so it would frame Raven's face in whatever way Pam thought was best. There was a lot about crafting public appearances that Raven had no idea about, but there wasn't another person on earth Raven trusted more on the matter.

"Nervous?" Pam asked.

"Not really," Raven almost shrugged but kept still.

They had a big event to go tonight, a fundraising gala for… Something to do with starving kids somewhere, or was it a disease? Unimportant. They were already in France for the opening of the 4th New Blood factory in the world, and the first one in Europe. Eric, Pam and Raven had been cordially invited by the billionaire Emmanuel Bisset himself, who was throwing this fundraiser. Bisset owned the largest multinational dairy corporation in the EU, so much like New Blood, he knew a lot about manufacturing, bottling and distribution (and tax loopholes. So many tax loopholes). Many political leaders of the EU and some of the wealthiest and most influential humans would also be attending the gala. Raven knew from being a Bishop's daughter, that these events were everything. It would be here that they would work their backdoor deals to pay fewer taxes, to lobby politicians, and to buy seats in their next elections, and ultimately protect their own assets. Never again humans would claim and take away what was Eric Northman's.

But let's go back to the beginning: It all began after Raven's turning. Humans had injected her body with their filthy synthetic disease, and Eric still drank it - knowingly - in order to turn her. Eric was so adamant he would never let her go, he decided to risk sacrificing himself to save her. He got sick, very fast. Raven had to watch him go weak, and lethargic merely hours after becoming her maker. His pale skin got covered in dark black veins in a matter of hours. But luckily she knew they had the only antidote - the one redeeming act Sarah Newlin probably did in her entire existence. Having to drag a semi-dying Eric into Fangtasia, angrily screaming for Pam to get the antidote from the bar's vault was not the introduction she was expecting to have into her new vampire family, but it was the one she got.

Regardless, Eric wasn't the only one. The new disease spread like wildfire. All cases were connected to the poisoned Tru Blood batch from Louisiana and the prisoners who drank it. The virus quickly spread around the world, wiping out a big part of the vampire population, but not without bringing terror and destruction with it. The only two things that seemed to help slow down the progress of the disease were age and constant feeding. Which meant all the new baby vampires created in the last era of the Authority died horrifically gooey deaths, but only after draining many humans bone dry. And the ones old enough to survive had to feed 10 times the regular amount. Meaning the vampire attacks on humans increased 100 times over, the highest ever recorded. And that was the story for the timely demise of one Bill Compton, who got Hep V and refused to drink more to live. His own guilt would not allow for any more pain in this world. Bill died exactly how Raven predicted: by the merciful hands of Sookie Stackhouse.

Called it.

But the real twist happened when the news broke out Hep V was man-made. The disease alone would maybe have been praised as a solution for 'pest control' as certain conservative News channels put it. But once the footage of horrific experiments that happened in the Louisiana prison leaked to the press, it struck a chord with a lot of human activists. The graphic footage of the antithetical "scientific" experiments made mortals see the very real humanity in vampires. The wave of vampire attacks that followed was nothing more than humanity's own doing. The irony was palpable.

The movement for Vampire Rights quickly took off again, especially now that witches had also come out publicly. The Wizard Revelation came just a few weeks after Raven died at her own trial. The Mages had told her about the video footage of her doing magic but it was surreal to watch it herself. Luckily, the camera only showed her back, and never her face so her real identity was never discovered (despite witches everywhere knowing exactly who it was). The words she spoke in that room and the magic she performed were clearly recorded with only minor static interference. Magic was undeniable. Not even 1000 Bishops could perform enough memory wiping spells on the millions of mortals who watched the video. It was on every TV, on every cell phone, every computer screen, all over the internet. There was no counterspell for that. Scientists and physicists were truly puzzled at how one woman could have moved the moon and held it still with just words.

Well, it was a little more than just words. It was Agatha's secret key. A secret that she told no one, ever. It was a gift Agatha trusted to Raven, and it was going to die with her.

Raven would never forget watching the speech Alexander Randall gave on TV, explaining magic, customs and the journey their kind went through over the millennia, running from persecution. And because witches and wizards held such a vast amount of precious books, literature and knowledge, humans agreed to be on friendly terms with their kind as long as witches were to share their magic knowledge. Turns out a lot of roadblocks humans found in advanced quantum physics and dark matter research, could be explained by certain magic principles. The real twist, however, was that Randall had also opened a school of magic in California, the Raven Blackwood Academy of Witchcraft. It taught all magic subjects to anyone with a drop of magic blood. Witches and wizards no longer were forced to pick only one kind of magic to practice for all their lives. Instead, they could learn all of it. Or as little of it. Magic was knowledge, not power.

She sat on Eric's couch watching the news live, with her jaw on the floor. Randall didn't disclose anything about their Pope, Circle of Mages, Lilith, or even Satan. She could only imagine how the other Bishops took it. There's no way he had their blessing. But it didn't matter, did it? He couldn't be prosecuted. The fact that no other Bishop or even the Pope himself came out, probably meant Randall was ex-communicated from the Church.

Randall explained the school would be a safe haven for all the magic children. He understood, Raven thought in relief. Magic - no matter how much, and where from, should be shared. Raven was truly moved that Alexander created such a place in her honor. She wished she had a place like that to go to when she was young, alone and lost. The magic community she grew up in was very judgemental of many things, but especially of her lack of formal education. But here was a Bishop declaring everyone should have access to all subjects they desire to learn, no matter how much of a half-blood they were. Witches and Wizards would no longer have to choose just one thing to do for the rest of their lives.

Humanity, as expected, lost their collective shit. For weeks, it made the headlines almost every day - and deservingly so. The only downside was that it made her name a common household name.

"This school is named after a brave witch, who taught me more about what it meant to be magical than most people I've ever met," Randall said in an interview.

To the world, Raven Blackwood was a pioneer witch who died to free witches and wizards from the shadows. So Raven had to accept a new name, of Pam's choosing: Raven Croft. She didn't like it at first, having to take a new name for herself. It felt that even her own name was taken from her - just another thing she had lost. But as time went by, it was healing in a way. The person she was, Raven Blackwood the witch, was dead. She died a couple of times actually. And both times, were by the hand of people who ultimately didn't care for her, despite claiming they did.

Raven never spoke about her father again. What he did to her was unforgivable. But in the end, she did turn into exactly what her father wanted: she was their light. She led the witches out of the shadows. They no longer had to live in fear, in hiding, underground. They didn't have to fight for their survival or their existence anymore. It may not have been in the way he wanted or imagined, but she did it. Not Lilith, Raven. But resenting him forever was of no use. She was immortal now, she couldn't carry pain like that with her anymore. Forever is just too long. So she let him go. That part of her past wasn't worth wasting energy on. Elijah Blackwood was simply forgotten.

Plus she had bigger and more important things to do now. The world had become a much more intricate place since her turning. But also a much safer one because of Eric, Pam and Raven's new company: New Blood.

Bill Compton had the right idea for the new synthetic blood formula, but his approach had one fatal flaw: he was using science in order to make magic. It would be like trying to launch a rocket into space but only using chemistry, and not physics or mathematics. Vampires drank the life force off human blood. They were magical creatures, they needed magic to survive.

There was, and there would never be a substitute for magic. Only magic can make magic. Despite not being a witch anymore, Raven still knew alchemy and all the magic principles of potion-making. It took her a month to create the human blood substitute, since trying to make potions without spells was a hard puzzle to crack. It took another two weeks to stabilize the Hep V antidote from Eric's blood into it. But it was Eric's taste test that took another three months. He just wouldn't approve the damn thing until it tasted actually good. According to him, had the Japanese made Tru Blood taste half-decent to begin with, thousands of lives - both human and vampire - would have been spared because mainstreaming would have an actual fighting chance of happening.

Once New Blood hit the shelves it was extremely successful from day one. Not only it tasted good, but it completely cured Hepatitis V. It made its first million within a month of its release. The company was going to be valued for 250 million dollars at the end of the next quarter, according to Pam. It was the fastest-growing company in the world, and it attracted a lot of attention left, right and center. Eric was the CEO (obviously) and Pam was the CMO of New Blood. Despite Raven telling them over and over again, she knew nothing about running the multi-million dollar company on any level, they insisted she'd be the COO since Raven was responsible for the formula. But really, it was Eric's way of telling her she was part of the family business.

Raven watched the tall blonde, dressed in a beautiful deep red gown, do her hair with the precision of a surgeon, picking pieces to fall around Raven's face, the soft curls of her hair barely brushing against her collarbones. Pam was not like any sister she ever had. She was hot-headed, sarcastic-bordering on rude, and a total bitch. The first thing Pam told her upon learning Eric had turned her was that Raven was forbidden from ever wearing a black satin slip dress ever again. That was their first fight. Raven hated wearing pants. Humans in this century lost their goddamn minds, calling tight low rise skinny jeans 'pants'. They were so fucking uncomfortable, the plastic denim mix, the thick sewed overlay of the crotch, and the zipper always rubbed weird on her lady parts, which meant she would have to start wearing underwear. Are you fucking kidding me?! After a screaming match, they compromised on dresses and skirts but only if she wore high heels. That was their second fight.

"Voila," Pam told her, taking a step back, looking at Raven through the mirror. "You're all done, doll."

Pam had pinned half her hair back in a side-swept style, highlighting Raven's long pale neck. She also chose Raven's dress: a navy blue, off the shoulder Dior mermaid gown that was absolutely stunning. Raven felt absolutely stunning. Pam could be a bitch at times, but she was her sister when it counted.

There was a knock on the door, and Eric entered. "The limo is here-" he was definitely going to say more, but his voice trailed off when he saw Raven. He looked at her hungry. She gave him a smirk and wondered how fast she could sew this dress back together if Eric ripped it off of her.

It was definitely different being a vampire. In some ways, she felt more alive than she ever felt before. Raven could see every star in the sky. She could hear even the most minute sounds, so loud and clear. All her senses were heightened to proportions she could never even imagine. Her strength and speed were hundreds of times more amplified than any potion would ever make her. And then, there was blood. Drinking blood was not like drinking liquid food. Blood felt like absolute pure power. You could feel the exquisite magical life force run all throughout the body at once. There were no words to describe the taste, let alone the feeling, the euphoria, the absolute high it was to bite a human. It was almost a full-body orgasmic experience. And the hunger, the all-consuming hunger that infected every thought, every second of the night. It was also very strange having fangs. It was a peculiar sensation feeling them slide in and out of her gums, especially when instincts took control of it half the time.

But it wasn't all roses either. Feeling the instant burn of the sun scared the shit out of her the first time she ever opened the curtain one morning out curiosity. A rush of emotions took over her - never again she would feel the warmth of the sunlight. She would never watch another sunset or sunrise. She would never bask into the unexplainable magic that beamed from it. Touching silver was a rarity, but having to let go of the sun was hard. Luckily Eric helped her every step of the way with her vampire transition.

Except there was one thing he couldn't help with: sometimes Raven missed magic. She missed feeling the energy run in her veins, she missed the connection she had with nature, with the stars, with the cosmos. She missed the rituals, the Holidays, Lucifer. Not all of it was gone, however. Just as Eric kept his battle instincts, and Pam kept her sexual prowess, Raven kept her intuition. It wasn't the same, not in a long shot, but it helped a bit. She could take solace in the fact the only part of the magic world she left behind was the trust she had in herself.

Plus there was a lot about the world she had to get used to. Constantly having humans around, technology, the internet, politics, the parties, having to actually work for a living. Not being able to summon items into her hands, and having to do everything without magic was one of the biggest habits she had to break. But even that wasn't the worst since Eric was practically made of money and they lived a pretty luxurious life - no cleaning, no errands or other minute human tasks were ever necessary. Plus Eric gave her a crash course on technology after she attacked his Roomba vacuum, thinking it was possessed. Not being able to figure navigate the latest cellphone, figure out the 5 different remotes on the TV or how to unjam the fucking printer (in all seriousness FUCK printers) was definitely a learning curve she did not expect ever having to overcome, but luckily, Eric was always there. He made fun of her, sure, but deep down he found it endearing.

The hardest transition of all, however, was leaving behind her house. In a last cathartic goodbye to Louisiana when Raven visited her childhood home with Eric and Pam. Seeing what had happened to her home broke her in unspeakable ways. It had fallen decrepit - half the roof had caved in, the windows were shattered, the wood rotten. A floorboard on the porch snapped broken when she stepped on it. The stone that fully shattered her reality was when she tried to enter - she could not. An invisible wall held her back. The very magic that once protected her, betrayed her. Raven would never again enter her house. She was now a stranger to it, not welcome in the one place she cherished the most. She would never again watch movies on her couch, take baths in her large tub. She would never sleep in her large canopy bed, make dresses in her sewing machine, listen to her albums, read her books, visit her sisters' paintings, sit in her kitchen and watch it cook, smell the jasmine tree in the tea room. She would never again hear the ticking of the grandfather clock in the hallway, the humming of the old fridge, or argue with the boiler in the basement. She would never garden again, pickle and conserve vegetables for the winter, tend her chickens, or take a refreshing lake dip at the end of a hot summer day. Her socks would never rip again on that one nail that perpetually poked out the floorboard on the third step on the staircase. She would never drink coffee in her sunroom among her plants. She would never hear Lucifer's hooves tippy tap across the house, constantly in search of his next napping spot.

It was the first time she loudly cried in a very long time, especially in front of someone else. But neither Eric nor Pam judged her. Her Maker held her and let her cry in his shoulder. Her witch life was gone forever. It had been for a while. Her life was slowly chipped away at - losing her mother moments after she was born. Losing her father the day he gave her away to Agatha. Losing her sisters in the pyre. Refusing to move on without them. Losing Jesus. Losing her familiars, her name, her magic, this house, her own life.

"Sometimes you have to lose something to make space for something new," Pam told her. Even though Pam and Raven wanted to slap each other in the face about a third of the time, Pam was weirdly supportive too.

Eric gently stroke her hair until Raven stopped crying. She looked up at his Maker. He gave her a look, showing he understood. Eric had lived a thousand years' worth of loss. But he was here. He had more to give. As long as he had her, he had more of himself.

Eric was her home now.

So taking Pam's advice, she made space. Raven burned it down. She lit the house on fire and watched the red flames take over. She watched the walls cave in as the fire raged over, feeling the heat consume everything. Ambers flew up in the sky, lighting the way to the stars, turning her house into ash and dust. Her old life as a witch was over. A part of her may always miss it, but there was a lot about being a witch that didn't serve her either. In being a witch, she was used, lied to, seen as an asset rather than a person. What she could do was worth more than who she was. This world took everything from her. But Eric Northman gave her a new world. One she truly loved, despite being filled with chaos, blood, politics and meticulous planning.

Now, they only ever visited Louisiana once in a while. Eric and Pam had turned Fangtasia into a franchise of bars across the Southern US, and every so often they had to attend meetings and check things over. Raven still thought Fangtasia was incredibly tacky and overall kind of stupid, so she spent her time in Louisiana visiting Lafayette and Holly. Lafayette was now the owner of Tara's Bar and Grill (former Merlotte's) and was dating a lovely vampire named James. Holly and Andy got married, and Holly was now attending college to become a horticulturist. Her goal was to own her own plant nursery of medicinal plants and herbs, following much of the magic botany knowledge Raven had passed along in the short time she taught Holly magic. To say she was proud of them, would be the understatement of the century.

It took a long time, but Raven eventually grew into her new skin. Raven Croft was strong. She was intelligent, loyal, cunning. She had a loving (in their own way) family again and it felt right. Raven no longer felt the haunting feeling she had a part of herself missing. The life she lived with Eric made her feel complete.

The three vampires left the penthouse hotel room and took the elevator down to the 7-star hotel lobby. Pam took Eric's left arm, and Raven took his left. Outside, they were swarmed by Paparazzi from the door to the limo. The media ate them up like candy. Maybe it was because the trio (well, mostly Eric) looked like they walked straight out of Photoshop and had a mysterious, sexy and dangerous air about them. Said image was perfectly crafted by Pamela, of course. Or maybe the obsession was due to them being the first vampires to be considered 'good for humanity'. They were solely responsible for the creation, supply and successful distribution of life-saving synthetic blood. And to top it off, it was actually delicious (although, nothing was more delicious than human blood), and attacks on humans decreased to almost nothing. Governments everywhere made sure their countries had New Blood readily available everywhere, along with a doomsday supply tucked away somewhere. If that sounds like fuck ton of money, it's because it is.

They ignored the excited shots and ludicrous questions from the Paparazzi, which were almost as loud as the clicking and flashing of their cameras. They knew better however than to get too close. They were still vampires.

"The British PM will be waiting for us in the limo," Eric whispered quietly in old Norse, letting the hotel security swat away the photographers.

"That's some fancy dinner," Pam joked, while a hotel staff opened the car door.

Pam and Raven ducked into the car first, followed by Eric. In it, were PM Mr. Andrew Woods and a middle-aged beautiful woman, one who they recognized immediately as the first lady. They sat near the driver, on the opposite end of the car, and the couple sat so close together Raven wondered if they were secretly joined at the hip. They weren't, of course, they were just scared of being in the same car as three vampires.

Good. They should be.

The door closed, and the air instantly thickened along with the heavy silence. Pam quickly hopped on her phone, probably to sext with some Italian model who was also attending tonight. Eric and Raven remained in the bitter staring contest with the humans. Woods was a leader in the anti-vampire sentiment in the UK ever since vampires came out of the closet. For years, he spewed hatred, blocked pro-vampire laws and funded anti-vampire propaganda. His slogan was for a long time "to serve humans, not leeches". And now that witches had come out, he wasn't so fond of them either. Woods called them "untrustworthy people, who hid in the shadows and thrived silently by tricking humans into doing their bidding". It was a joke by now, since every scandal in recent years involving a politician or celebrity, that they claimed to be "glamoured or tricked" by insert-whatever-supernatural-creature-would-be-more-believable. To Raven it was just more testament that the more things change, the more they stay the same.

Yet, somehow, this mere agglomeration of mortal cells landed the highest seat in parliament. With his country pushing for the creation of jobs and his economy desperately needing to grow, his party was starting to bend to the opposition. Laws and amendments for vampire rights passed in most countries (however not the UK), allowing vampires to run businesses and own land since it generated the government a pretty penny in taxes. Vampires lived forever after all and had accumulated old money, money politicians wanted to "improve highways" and "put into healthcare" and definitely not "to bail out his corporate buddies" when times get tough. Humans - especially politicians - were easily bought. None of them had any balls at all. New Blood put in a bid in the EU for its next factory and headquarters, but Andrew Woods made his opinion loud clear that no country should put a bid for it. It would be the "chicken inviting the fox into their henhouse", as he put it. A stupid metaphor, since the foxes have gone vegan (kind of). However, money is money and many of the EU countries put a bid on it, and France won. Hence, the gala.

"This must be awkward for you," Eric stated.

The man shifted uncomfortably on his seat and replied with a frown. "It's good optics to be seen arriving at the gala with you lot. Trust me, it's not personal, it's just business."

"Yes, but it is my business," Eric told him. "I understand if you wish to resign."

The man let out a loud scoff, shocked at Eric's suggestion. "Me? Resign? Have you lost your bloody mind? Why on Earth would I do that?"

Eric smiled quietly for a moment. "Then I suggest you hide everything about your personality when it comes to me."

Even that comment made Pam look up from her phone.

"Or what?" Woods challenged him.

"Or," Eric slightly leaned back further into his seat, and gently placed his large hand on Raven's thigh. Eric had the ability to turn anything he sat on into a throne. He could just command everything and anything inside a room into submission. Eric looked like absolute sex in his perfectly tailor-made charcoal suit. Raven was certainly going to devour him the second she had him for herself. And judging by how he gently squeezed her leg, she knew it would be soon.

"I can make you resign."

"Bullshit," he called out. "I take anti-glamouring medication, you can't make me do anything."

"Oh, Mr. Woods, but I find it endearing how naive you are. I can make you go away before we even reach the gala tonight. I can make you disappear. I can destroy everything you've ever built; make the whole world forget who you are, even your darling wife. So trust me when I say, I can make you resign, just like I did with… What's his name?" Eric turned to Raven.

"Which one?" he asked, holding back a smirk.

"Exactly," Eric told him.

"What do you want from us?" The first lady asked, gathering all her courage.

"Stay out of my way," Eric warned. "If I tell you to bark, you bark. If I tell you to sit, you sit. If I tell your darling wife to take an extra Fentanyl pill at night before bed, she'll take three."

The next moment, the car stopped and the door swung open again, to a different crowd of photographers and paparazzi at the bottom of regal stone steps. They had arrived at the gala. And just as if nothing had happened, they entered the party. Eric's words were not empty though - they had gotten very good at discovering secrets at every level of government, of most governments. What money could not buy - secrets could. And neither Mr. Woods nor his wife had clean records.

The night proceeded without a glitch. Pam "disappeared" after 30 minutes, and Raven knew damn well what her nymphomaniac sister was up to. Raven and Eric enjoyed watching the one-act opera and the ballet pieces of the night. But could that even be called ballet? It looked nothing like she remembered, but what the hell did she know?

Mid intermission Eric left to meet their honorable host, Emmanuel Bisset, to make Satan knows what kind of back door deals men do in the dark. This left Raven standing alone in her Mezzanine, watching the crowd of guests below. Everyone was cheerful and carefree, and even though there were almost 1200 guests down there, they all seemed to know each other. The richer you get, the smaller your social circle becomes, this she had learned. Raven could tell the humans were borderline drunk already, filling and refilling their glasses with expensive wine, champagne and whiskey while they waited for dinner to be served in the grand hall. Raven could hear their excited (perhaps cocaine driven) heartbeats, and it was slightly mouth-watering. She accidentally made eye contact with Andrew Woods, whose attention left his little circle of mates to glare at her sourly. She raised her glass at him and winked with a seductive smile, making his ears go red before looking away at his feet.

You fucking wish.

But no matter how pleasant the people down there were acting, they were still untrustworthy human vipers.

"Having fun yet?" A deep voice spoke just behind her ear, which made the hair on the nape of her neck stand straight.

None other than Alexander Randall leaned on the mezzanine next to her, giving his back to the crowd. His attention was only on her. Words escaped her. She didn't know if she should run, scream, or kill him on the spot by breaking his neck into three pieces.

Her fangs ached to come down and attack, but she held them still. Seeing what he did on TV was nice, memorable and all - saving all the magic children was what she wanted to die for. Liberating the wizardkind was all anyone could have ever wished. Alexander left the Church and everything he believed behind to build a whole new world on top of the one she destroyed was the closure she needed to seek redemption. Yes, he should be commemorated for that. But Randall had also played a significant role in killing her. Raven's last memory of being alive, was having his knife puncture her chest. It was watching him stand over her bleeding body, her mind being inundated with his whispers until she faded away into the cold darkness of death. Even in her last lucid moments, he wanted the key. No matter the size of Alexander's sacrifice, he still wanted her secret.

He smirked under his thick mustache, taking his crystal cocktail glass to his lips and finishing the last of his scotch before setting the glass down on the ledge table. Getting bored of her hostile discomfort, his eyes finally left her and landed on the crowd below.

"You are hard to kill, Raven Blackwood." He spoke again with a stupid smile on his face.

"Oh no, Raven Blackwood is dead. You made sure of that." She quietly lashed out, trying to bite back the anger.

"Right," he chuckled, but he did not find it funny. "It's Miss Croft now. Or is Mrs? I still don't quite grasp vampirical family trees."

"There's nothing for you grasp because it's none of your fucking business. What the hell are you doing here?"

"Believe it or not, the head of the Scientology Church and I are good friends, and-" He rambled on but she stopped listening.

The mere sight of this man-made her sick. What was he doing here? Why was he still talking? Was this a distraction so he could read her mind? Agatha. Being in the forest. Think of something else! Without her magic, she couldn't sense anything. She couldn't hear the whispers. She couldn't feel the intruder in her head. Lilith. Pouring herself wholeheartedly into the mysterious magic of the 14th circle. Stop thinking about it! Raven started to panic. The more she tried to stir the thoughts away, the more intense the memories played in her head. Trying not to think of something was incredibly difficult. Everything she had died for would have been in vain. Raven felt her cold blood starting to boil and her fangs came out at once. Think of - 

"Relax," Randall sighed, gently embracing her hand with his. She tried to pull away, but he stopped her. "I can't practice legilimency on the dead. Your secret has successfully died with you." He did not seem to be lying, so Raven lightened cautiously. Her sisters did not die in vain. No one else would ever know about it. The world's most powerful magic channelling circle was safe. "Does he know? Your Maker?"

The honest answer was no. Eric knew everything there was to know about her, but this was too dangerous for him to know. It only took one powerful person to start asking questions, and trouble would find Eric (and he didn't need any more trouble). The less he knew the better. She measured the enormous man in the fine burgundy suit standing next to her. How deep was Randall's curiosity? How much was he willing to risk to know? What kind of dark magic did he posses that could torture her enough to tell him? Would he harm Eric? Or Pam? What if he had them?! What if this was a distraction?

Raven was about to tell him to fuck himself when he spoke again, taking her silence as an answer. "After Merlin sentenced you to death, a very curious thing happened-"

"Was it before or after you ripped my magic away by stabbing me in the heart and leaving me to bleed out?" Raven snarked.

"After you plead guilty to avoid answering my question at the trial, I took a peek around your conscience. I was hoping to find how you single-handedly destroyed one of the most powerful creatures ever created. Or how you managed to move the moon using only spoken magic. Or how you could do a tenth of what you did just didn't add up."

Raven remembered the whispers. The millions of voices in her head, louder than her own fear. Looking for answers like hounds. Prying every thought, leaving nothing unturned. Did he see it? Did he find the circle? Is that why he left the Church of Night? Because he didn't need to play by their rules anymore? Was he trying to mock her? This struck a nerve.

"Oh, I'm sure you were absolutely dumbfounded that someone like me managed to do all that. Untrained, uneducated, borderline illiterate witch," Randall raised his brows, surprised by her reaction. "I know what people say about me, that I am a waste of pureblood blood magic for not blinding following my father's steps."

"I never thought that about you," he assured her.

Raven shook her head in disbelief. This whole conversation was pointless. "Then enlighten me, Randall. What was my last mortal thought? How does my story end?"

"Is there a problem here?" Eric's voice sucked out all the air in the room. Her Maker's presence made Alexander stand straight up, assuming his bold posture once again.

"Not at all Mr. Northman, just catching up with an old friend," he nodded.

"Oh, so you stab all your friends in the chest? No wonder there are so few left of you." Eric said, approaching the edge of the balcony, putting his arm around Raven's waist.

Randall had no answer to this. He just simply nodded and walked away from the two vampires, back into the shadows of where he came from. Something shifted inside her as she saw part of her old life walk away, possibly forever.

"Randall!" Raven called out, making the large man's head turn as he stood in the doorway. "You never told me how the story ended."

Alexander shifted on his feet, looking at Eric who glared at him with the intensity of a thousand suns which was very on-brand for her maker. Randall hesitated, carefully choosing the words he would say next.

"You were flying." He said with a small smile, before disappearing into the hallway.

His words shattered a glass ceiling in her head, as the memories returned to her exploding fireworks. Of course. Raven thought of Eric. As she plunged into the weightless darkness of death, her soul called him so strongly it consumed everything. In her very last mortal moments, she thought of how Eric made her feel. In the rawest way, their bond made her feel as if she were flying all the time - exhilarating, confident, wild and free. Eric liberated Raven to be who she really wanted to be.

"Raven?" Eric's voice brought her back to reality. "What did he want?"

"Oh, nothing," she answered, looking at his perfect face from up close.

"That looked like something," a devilish smile formed on the corner of his lips. Eric was just teasing her, but he did have the habit of turning most things sexual.

"Eric," she rolled her eyes. "Not everyone wants to fuck me."

"Highly disagree." Eric walked behind her and pressed his body gently against hers. For a moment she forgot all about the Bishop. His arms embraced her from behind, his lips placed a gentle kiss on the corner of her neck which sent a wave through her body. Both of them watched the crowd below in silence. The feeling of his body pressed against hers, his large hands sitting on her hips was all she could concentrate on. Having him so close made her think of nothing else. Her Maker had that effect on her. She could block out the paparazzi, the politicians, the backdoor deals, the litany of bullshit they had to deal with night after night, as long as she could have him.

"How much longer until we can get out of here?" She asked him.

"Soon," he promised. "Bisset is signing some papers. He's selling me half of his distribution channels, so we can expand all the way through Asia and Africa."

"Half? How the fuck did you manage that?"

"His wife was diagnosed with ALS. Nothing my blood couldn't fix."

"How humanitarian of you."

"I know. I also met Pam, and she is fetching our dinner. She even found your favourite - vegan."

Not even the hunger growing in the bottom of her stomach could shake the thought. "Are you sure you can trust him?"

"Bisset? Obviously not. But I have fail-safes, you know I always do."

Maybe it was the presence of hundreds of rich and powerful humans partying down below, or maybe it was Randall's visit that turned her sour, but she felt uneasy all of the sudden. Vulnerable, even. She had to ask. "How long do you think until they declare war on vampires again?"

Eric took a second to answer, as he watched the people down below. "Why do you ask?"

"Because I know they will," Raven confessed. "Last time I had magic to get us out, next time we won't be so lucky. I'm not a witch anymore-"

"Listen to me," he spun her around swiftly and looked deeply into her eyes. "You are enough." He told her softly. "In fact, you are more than I could have ever asked for, and it has nothing to do with magic."

Raven nodded, but she still felt apprehensive. "I'll remind you of that once the world declares war on us again,"

"It won't matter who declares war on us," Eric's thumb traced her jaw, his other hand travelled the back of her dress. "As long as I have you."

The rest was history.

She loved the life she built with Eric - in and out of the public eye. Sometimes they spent weeks on end alone in a beautiful secluded villa somewhere, night after night just enjoying each other's companies and bodies. She no longer had her books to pass the time, so she made do with telling Eric about things she had read and learned. At first, she was hesitant. She didn't want Eric to think she disliked being a vampire or regretted turning. But her Maker would often ask about wizardry, and she had nothing or no one to stop her telling something everything she knew. So Raven would tell Eric all sorts of things: from witchcraft theory to dwarf theology, to portal mechanics, stories of angels and demons, witch customs and holidays, sacred symbols and their meanings, about creatures that longer existed, stories of other worlds, astrology, magic key theory, the ins and outs of potion-making, and even funny anecdotes about her coven sisters. It was no longer painful to say their names. She could talk about herself to Eric without opening wounds. He would never betray her trust like that.

Raven even told him about her few memories of Godric and their brief friendship. Eric had (even though he hid it unfortunately well) inherited his Maker's kindness. He listened to every word curiously, even if her stories probably made no sense, or were so far beyond anything that could possibly be of this world that they sounded absolutely ridiculous. Raven knew she had a tendency of vomiting out stories, but she enjoyed telling him them anyway. And he always liked hearing them. Apparently, when Raven went down these magic rabbit holes, she spoke with a smile on her face, and Eric loved her smile more than most things. One night he even surprised her by purchasing her one of her old books - Catherine's old potions guide. The scribbles and notes on the pages were still all there intact. She had no idea how he managed to not only find a genuine magic book (there were a multitude of spells and rules to keep them out of certain hands) but to find Catherine's exact copy sent her heart through the Moon. Being loved and cared for was the most wonderful thing she had to get used to. 

The bond they held now was stronger than any bond they ever held with each other before. Sometimes she didn't know where she ended and he started. Raven felt like she finally belonged somewhere. She belonged with him. And her Maker was absolutely devoted to her in every way possible. The world they built together was the most precious thing Raven ever had. She trusted him completely and irrevocably, just as she loved him. Being his progeny did not ever feel like being owned - in fact, this was the freest she had ever been. She knew Eric would make good on his promise about releasing her if she ever so wished.

But Eric never let her go. Because Raven never asked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N.:
> 
> Thank you beloved reader for sticking with Raven until the end. It means a lot to me. It was extremely difficult for me to finish this epilogue, partially because there was so much to be said (it has 7k words, the longest chapter of ALL the series!), but mainly because I will miss day-dreaming of Eric and Raven and this whole universe I built.
> 
> Thank you from the bottom of my heart to everyone who commented/gave kudos - you absolutely made my day with each and every notification I got.
> 
> And thank you also to all my beta readers - you were incredible and helped me grow so much as a hobby writer.
> 
> I'm not sure if I will be writing again so soon (it's a lot of work!) but I'm still an avid reader in this fandom, so you'll see my pen name around the comments. Which reminds me, if you have any other True Blood fics you love, PM me!
> 
> Anyway. Final bow, thank you again, curtains close
> 
> Goodbye for now
> 
> Laura


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